FRIDAY, Dec 24 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP EMAIL FOR FRIDAY, December 24, 2021
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NOTE: MORNING SIDEKICK will be off Monday, December 27 through Friday, December 31 for our annual Christmas holiday. For those of you on the air during this period, we will be posting our BEST OF 2021 collection of wacky news stories so you can treat your listeners to a review of the best morning show news items of the year. The link will be on our website prep page. We will be posting and emailing occasional stories during the break, and we will return with daily prep for Monday, January 3rd, 2022.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR, and thanks for making us your MORNING SIDEKICK!

COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: FRIDAY CLUSTERFLICKS FOR 12/24; A MESSAGE FROM SANTA

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 EGG NOG DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“National Egg Nog Day comes but once a year. It celebrates a special, traditional holiday drink. It is consumed with or without Rum. The timing couldn’t be any better – the day before Christmas – Christmas Eve! Egg Nog is a seasonal holiday drink. It appears just before Thanksgiving, and is enjoyed by many at the Thanksgiving meal. Consumption then takes a break until the December holidays are in full swing. Consumption of egg nog peaks on Christmas Eve. By the New Year, it is no longer available in stores. If you want eggnog after New Year’s you will likely have to make it yourself. No one seems to know who created National Egg Nog Day. But, egg nog lovers are ecstatic that this day exists. It’s loaded with stuff that tastes really good. It’s loaded with stuff that’s not good for you. Egg Nog afficienados will tell you that its mmmmm delicious! The Correct Spelling: This holiday drink is spelled “Egg Nog” and “Eggnog”, about equally. The carton in the store spells it “Egg Nog”. Which is correct? It depends upon how much rum is in your Egg Nog! … bottoms up!”

December is:

Exotic/Tropical Fruits Month
National Egg Nog Month
National Fruit Cake Month
National Stress-Free Family Holiday Month
National Write a Business Plan Month
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
Tomato Month
Winter Squash Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

“WHEEL OF FORTUNE” CONTESTANT WHO GOT SCREWED OUT OF A CAR IS NOW GETTING A FREE CAR

On Tuesday’s episode of “Wheel of Fortune” contestant Charlene Rubush was robbed of winning a car while solving the final puzzle. The answer was “Choosing the Right Word,” and Rubush put a long pause between saying “right” and “word” and, despite solving the puzzle in time, they denied her the win, which would have been a new Audi. Public outcry on the internet was swift and harsh, and seeing this, Audi is circumventing the game show and giving Rubush a new Audi Q3, the prize she should have won. The suggested retail price on a new Q3 is $35,900, so the amount of free publicity Audi is now getting is well worth it.
* You see? Internet mob rule sometimes works out for the good.
* Pat Sajak was getting a little sick and tired of people yelling “Grinch!” at him.
* And good luck getting Audi back as a sponsor, Wheel of Fortune.
* You just know some producer at “Wheel of Fortune” is having a very bad Christmas Eve right now, cleaning out his desk.

THE BUZZ

PEOPLE GIVE UP ON ALEXA AFTER TWO WEEKS

According to internal Amazon data obtained by Bloomberg News, people who get an Amazon Alexa device tend to stop using it after only two weeks. On the other hand, sales figures show the number of households who have Alexa continues to grow. The device is advertised as being able to set alarms, reminders, answer questions, search the internet, control smart home devices, tell you jokes, provide interesting facts, and even play games with you. Yet Amazon’s own documents show that these devices are often only used for playing music, setting timers, or turning on lights. Alexa device owners “discover half of the features they will ever use within three hours of activating the device.”
* And you can’t even hang your pajamas on it, like you can your Stairmaster.
* Are you trying to tell me that tech companies sell people things that they just don’t need? Unbelievable.
* Amazon is really ticked off about this, ’cause when you don’t use Alexa, they can’t spy on you.
* The problem is voice control. Honestly, sometimes it’s just too much trouble to formulate a thought into speech. Maybe if they had a device that responds to grunts, I’d consider getting one.
* I can just see all the people out there hearing this going, “Oh, man, my parents are gonna hate this Alexa I bought for them for Christmas, and I don’t have time to get back to the store.”

U.S. NEWS

FIRE STATION BURNS TO THE GROUND

A massively ironic fire has destroyed the fire station in the community of Portland, Ontario in Canada. The fire broke out Tuesday afternoon. Witnesses reported hearing loud bangs before the volunteer fire department building went up in flames, and said the building was completely engulfed. The volunteer service’s fire trucks were also inside the garage when the fire broke out and were destroyed.
* Where were the firefighters? Last-minute Christmas shopping?
* “Call 911!” “But WE’RE 911!” “Crap!”
* Maybe someone slid down the fire pole in a wool sweater and fired off a massive bolt of static electricity.
* Anyone know any volunteer bricklayers to rebuild the volunteer fire station?*
* Just make sure everybody in Portland, Ontario is real, real careful with matches and stuff for the next couple months.

SURFER ALMOST BIT BY A SWIMMING PIG

A surfer off the Hawaii coast said a wild boar bit her surfboard while she was in the water. Ingrid Seiple, who has been surfing for more than 35 years, was riding the waves off Oahu’s Kaena Point when she spotted what she initially thought was a Hawaiian monk seal in the water. When the animal lifted its head, she realized it was a pig. It saw her and started swimming toward her. Seiple pushed the board between herself and the pig, and the pig bit her surfboard. She was able to swim back to shore without any injuries. She suggested the boar may have been chased into the water by hunting dogs and got caught in a rip current.
* Or, in this case, a “rib” current.
* What, you never heard of that surf music band The Beach Boars?
* There hasn’t been that much ham in the water since David Hasselhoff was on “Baywatch.”
* Everybody’s heard about the surfin’ bird / But they flip their wig over the surfin’ pig.
* This calls for a reboot of “Jaws.” Call it “Tusks”: “We’re gonna need a bigger barbecue.”

11-YEAR-OLD BOY SAVES TWO PEOPLE IN ONE AFTERNOON

Police in Muskogee, Oklahoma are crediting a middle schooler for saving a choking classmate and a woman escaping a house fire on the same day. December 9th: it was a day like any other ordinary day. Until Davyon Johnson, 11, saw a classmate choking on a water bottle cap. He Heimliched her. Johnson said he learned the Heimlich maneuver from watching YouTube videos. Later that evening, he saw a house on fire and an elderly woman with a walker on the front porch. Davyon thought, “Oh, she’s not moving fast enough.” So, he ran across the street and helped her to her truck. For his heroism, the Muskogee Police Department presented him with an honorary officer certificate, and the school board presented him with the heroism award.
* Ooo, a certificate AND an award!
* Not even an ice cream party at Dairy Queen? Where’s the gift cards? Where’s the check? Where’s the new car? That lady on “Wheel of Fortune” got a new car, and she didn’t even save anyone’s life!
* The thing is, after you save somebody, you should hold your hand out like a bellhop for a tip.
* On the other hand, this kid is a bad luck magnet. Stay away, if you value your safety.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TV YOU CAN LICK

A Japanese professor has developed a prototype lickable TV screen that can imitate food flavors. The device, called Taste the TV, uses a combination of 10 flavor canisters that spray in combination to create the taste of a particular food. The flavor sample then rolls on hygienic film over a flat TV screen for the viewer to try. Professor Homei Miyashita of Meiji University says this kind of technology can enhance the way people connect and interact with the outside world. The goal, he says, is to make it possible for people “to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home.”
* Ridiculous. TV hasn’t had good taste since the Eisenhower Administration.
* The fun part is washing off the roll of flavor film between TV shows.
* Well, we’re just one week until December 31st, but he managed to slip it in under the wire: the Stupidest Invention of the Year.
* This idea stinks worse than Smell-O-Vision.
* “Where do you want to eat tonight?” “I dunno. Let’s lick that new restaurant in Budapest.”
* Wait – what am I thinking? This is from Japan. This isn’t invented for food, it’s invented for porn.

ALMANACNOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

TOMORROW – Christmas
Dec. 31, Friday – New Year’s Eve
Jan. 1, Saturday – New Year’s Day

BIRTHDAYS

Louis Tomlinson (singer, “One Direction”) … 30
Ryan Seacrest (producer, TV host, “American Idol”) … 47
Stephenie Meyer (author, The Twilight Saga) … 48
Ricky Martin (singer) … 50
Diedrich Bader (actor, “Veep”, “The Drew Carey Show”, animation voice actor) … 55
Mark Valley (actor, “CSI”, “Crisis”) … 57

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

“I don’t have to prove myself again. I know that if someone writes a book about music history, there’ll be a good chapter on me.”

(A) Vanilla Ice
(B) M.C. Hammer
(C) Ricky Martin

ANSWER: (C) Ricky Martin

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2002 – Laci Peterson was reported missing from her Modesto, CA home by her husband, Scott, who was later convicted of murdering her and their unborn son.
* Not-So-Merry Christmas everybody!

1968 – The Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve TV broadcast.
* That was way back when we used to mix religion with Christmas.

1951 – Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” the first opera written specifically for TV, was first broadcast by NBC.
* Americans were so happy with high-quality culture on TV, opera became the TV staple it is today.

1906 – Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, Mass.
* He was immediately sued by the RIAA.

1865 – Several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tenn., called the Ku Klux Klan.
* Wow. Talk about sore losers.

1814 The War of 1812 officially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.
* Wouldn’t that make it “The War of 1812 Through 1814”?

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2003 – Jack White of The White Stripes turned himself in to Detroit police to face aggravated assault charges stemming from a bar room altercation in which he allegedly attacked Jason Stollsteimer of The Von Bondies. White was also fingerprinted and formally booked on the charges before he was released on bail.

1988 – Nirvana started recording their first album “Bleach” using a $600 loan from an old school friend.

1976 – The Eagles sixth album, “Hotel California,” spent the first of eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard chart.

1965 – Elvis Presley proposed to actress Priscilla Beaulieu.

1818 – Franz Gruber composed “Silent Night.”

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. 3 out of 5 people admit to doing THIS while Christmas shopping. What is it?
Forgetting where they parked

2. Around 10% of Americans will pay extra for THIS service this holiday season. What is it?
Gift wrapping

3. 15% of people are still trying to do THIS from last holiday season. What is it?
Pay off Christmas bills

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MORNING SIDEKICK RADIO SHOW PREP & COMEDY
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