FRIDAY, Feb 23 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR FRIDAY, February 23, 2024
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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.)

CURLING IS COOL DAY
The Giftypedia website says this:
“Curling is Cool Day is a day to celebrate, learn, and to play a sport that began in Scotland in the 1500’s. Curling is a team sport in which players slide heavy granite stones down a sheet of ice at a circular target area. A curling tournament is known as a bonspiel. Curling has been an official sport in the Winter Olympic Games since 1998.”

DIESEL ENGINE DAY
German inventor Rudolf Diesel patented the engine which bears his name on February 23, 1892.

INTERNATIONAL DOG BISCUIT APPRECIATION DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day is a day for the dogs. And that’s because there is no one else who can really appreciate the true value of a dog biscuit. They say ‘Every dog has his day.’ And, it will definitely be his day, when you give him some tasty dog biscuits. You might appreciate their value in pleasing your dog, as a reward for behavior, or enticing them to do a trick. But, the dog is the recipient of the treat. Celebrate today by giving your dog a few dog biscuits.”

PLAY TENNIS DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“Play Tennis Day is a great day to play tennis. After all, it’s the objective of the day. Millions of Americans enjoy playing tennis. In addition to being a good sport, its good exercise, too. If the weather in your area keeps you from playing tennis today, then watching or reading about tennis is a great backup activity.”

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

THE BUZZI’M DATING AN IDIOT

Reddit asked, “What was your ‘I’m dating an idiot’ moment?” Some of the responses:
– “She was standing in the middle of Disney World holding a paper map of the park. She started complaining that they forgot to put the ‘You Are Here’ star on the map to show you where you are currently at in the park.”
– “My ex didn’t think it rained over the ocean because there was enough water there already. She was shocked it rained when we were on a cruise.”
– “Believed the Statue of Liberty was made of green plastic. I tried to explain it was copper, which turns green when it oxidizes but she thought I was lying to her.”
– “She thought I was making up the concept of time zones.”
– “He put a load of laundry in with mixed color and whites… poured in bleach to whiten the whites… was shocked that the bleach bleached everything in the load.”
– “He thought you absorb a gallon of water when you shower so he didn’t need to drink water.”
– “She thought mud was worm poop, because when it rained worms showed up and then there was mud.”
– “Asked me how do I bake the layered cake without the batter mixing.”
– “I was there when my boyfriend asked his mother how his uncle, that he was close to and known all his life, was related to him.”
– “Not kidding – she thought noodles grew as plants like rice or tomatoes.”
* PHONE TOPIC: What is your “I’m dating an idiot” moment?

U.S. NEWS

EASY BAKE OVEN ATTEMPTS TO KILL FAMILY

A woman named Stephanie Murphy went TikTok to claim that her daughter’s new Easy Bake Oven toy nearly poisoned the family. It started when Murphy’s 8-year-old daughter plugged in the toy. She noticed an odd smell, her dad said it was probably just the heating element burning something off, and soon the smell went away. The daughter mixed up a little red velvet cake, put it in the Easy Bake. Twenty minutes later they took it out and saw it was not fully cooked. They figured the toy was trash and unplugged it. About 45 minutes after that, the daughter started complaining of chest pains and having trouble breathing. Testing her with a pulse oximeter, the daughter’s oxygen level was very low. On the way to the ER, both mom and dad noticed they were having trouble breathing, too. Doctors diagnosed their condition was from “carbon monoxide poisoning.” Mom & dad were treated and released, but their daughter spent two days in Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Murphy related the experience on TikTok, and at least one other mother shared a similar experience, writing, “My daughter and I got so sick when we used her Easy Bake – headache, nausea, vertigo. We never used it after that, it’s still in my garage.” When they complained to Hasbro, the company issued a statement saying, “Hasbro takes all product safety concerns seriously. Hasbro’s Easy Bake Ovens meet or exceed all applicable safety standards.”
* Especially if you’re from Neptune and breathe carbon monoxide.
* But the cake — what happened to the cake? Priorities, people!
* Next time, buy her a safer toy, like a blow dart gun or a trampoline.
* It’s the worst home food prep accident since the killer Crock-Pot on “This Is Us.”
* An Easy Bake Oven used to be a 25-watt light bulb in a metal box. This is like catching a urinary tract infection from a wiffle ball.
* Knowing now what can happen, can the Easy Bake Oven handle cremations?

FLORIDA WOMAN CARJACKED BY THREE GERMAN SHEPHERDS

St. Petersburg, Florida, resident Keke Keke (* really?) was dropping her child off at day care and left her driver’s side door open. Three loose German shepherds jumped inside and took over the front seat. The dogs apparently wanted to go for a ride. Keke Keke said the dogs were “holding my car hostage” just as she needed to go to work. St. Petersburg police responded to the scene and tugged on the animals’ collars to help coax them out. Two of the dogs got out, and police used fish sticks to help lure the third one. Police said they gave the dogs a lift to Pinellas Animal Urgent Care until the owner was located and took them home.
* Well, they got two rides that day – to the shelter, and home.
* They jumped into the car ’cause they were tired of waiting for their Uber.
* The cops carry fish sticks in Florida? This is a law enforcement tool I’ve not heard of. Do they carry a holster full of tartar sauce?
* How did she get the name Keke Keke? “My mom had a bad stutter, and the nurse who recorded my name on the birth certificate was a real a–hole.”

JUDGE RULES KID CAN’T HAVE LONG HAIR

A judge ruled Thursday that a high school can punish a Black high school student in Texas for refusing to change his hairstyle, and that they are not committing race-based hair discrimination. The student, Darryl George, 18, has been banned from attending regular classes at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The school claimed that the length of his dreadlocks violated their dress and grooming code. Darryl wears his dreadlocks tied up tightly on the top of his head so they do not touch his collar. Even so, Darryl has been directed to in-school suspension and an off-site disciplinary program since last August for not cutting his hair. Greg Poole, the superintendent of the Barbers Hill school district, says this: “Being an American requires conformity with the positive benefit of unity, and being a part of something bigger than yourself.”
* You know – like the Borg.
* You can see where a school named after barbers would hate long hair.
* Wasn’t this settled case law, in The People vs. The Five Man Electrical Band?
* Could they at least have waited ’til after Black History Month?
* How about some hair product company out there step up and give this kid an endorsement contract?
* PHONE TOPIC: How far should a dress code go? Should he have to cut his hair even if it’s piled on top of his head? Would it just be better if everyone had the same haircut and wore uniforms?

COUPLE HAS BEEN TO 135 CONCERTS IN ONE YEAR

A couple from Kensington, Maryland, say they have broken a Guinness World Record by attending 135 concerts in a single year. Tijan and Matthew Brown were at their 20th concert of 2023 when they started to wonder whether they might be on the road to a world record, so they contacted the Guinness people and ended up setting a record. The Browns spent a total $18,407.24 on concert tickets over the course of the year, an average of $68.17 per ticket. Matthew said, “These experiences have enriched our lives in ways that money can’t measure, so in our view, every penny spent was well worth it!” The concerts they saw included Beyonce, Lizzo, Pitbull, Sam Smith, Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks. And they already have plans to see shows this year including Journey, Andrea Bocelli, Green Day, Paula Abdul and Aerosmith.
* So – no kids, huh? Suddenly I’m not as impressed.
* There are people who spent that much money just to see Taylor Swift.
* How much did they spend on medical bills for things they picked up in the restrooms?
* You know who sees more shows than them? The sound guy at the venue. The bartender. The usher. The janitor. How about giving them a world record?

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

SPANISH PRIEST ARRESTED FOR DEALING VIAGRA

A Spanish priest has been arrested on suspicion of illegally selling Viagra from his home. The cleric from the town of Don Benito, near Spain’s border with Portugal, was arrested Monday in the rectory, where he lived with a man described as his partner, who was also detained. Viagra is said to have been found inside the rectory as well as other drugs described as “powerful aphrodisiacs.” The priest has been described locally as a “very popular” man.
* And he had some pretty stiff competition in that town.
* Selling bootleg Viagra is hard work.
* “Hey – these aren’t communion wafers.”
* That’s why they call it a lay ministry?
* If he hadn’t been caught, there’s no telling how long he could have kept it up.

NAKED MAN FESTIVAL ENDING AFTER 1,000 YEARS

An annual Japanese event commonly known as the “naked man festival” is ending after nearly 1,000 years due to the declining population in the area, organizers said. The event involves hundreds of loincloth-clad men gathering at the Kokusekiji Temple in Oshu, Japan, to wrestle. The winner gets a bag of talismans blessed by the temple’s chief priest. For more than 1,000 years, the festival was held annually on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. The last one took place last Saturday. Organizers said this decision is due to the aging of individuals involved in the festival and a shortage of successors.
* Wait – no one wants to watch elderly men wrestle naked? What’s the problem?
* Things just sometimes run their natural course after 1,000 years. The naked man festival is all behind us now.
* You’re just going to have to find a different way of introducing yourself to your neighbors other than naked wrestling.
* The temple priests will now be selling their talismans on Etsy.
* When they said there was a shortage at the naked man festival, I thought they meant something different.

ALMANACNOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

March 10, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Begins
March 17, Sunday – St. Patrick’s Day
March 19, Tuesday – Spring begins, Spring Equinox is 11:06 p.m. EDT
March 20, Wednesday – First full day of Spring

BIRTHDAYS

Dakota Fanning (actress) … 30
Emily Blunt (actress, “Jungle Cruise,” “A Quiet Place” movies) … 41
Aziz Ansari (actor, “Master of None,” “Parks and Recreation”) … 41
Kristin Davis (actress, “And Just Like That,” “Bad Teacher,” “Sex and the City”) … 59
Brad Whitford (rhythm guitarist with Aerosmith) … 72

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

“Sometimes it would be nice to just have some red wine with dinner, but it’s not worth the risk. I have a great life … Why would I want to risk self-destructive behavior?”

(A) Charlie Sheen
(B) Mel Gibson
(C) Kristin Davis

ANSWER: (C) Kristin Davis

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2011 – The Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
* People on both sides of the issue said, “Thanks, Obama!”

1910 – The first radio contest was held, in Philadelphia.
* It took forever to get a tenth caller, since so few people had both a radio and a phone.

1887 – The U.S. officially banned imports of opium from China.
* So folks switched over to opium from Colombia.

1886 – The world’s first classified ad was placed in the London Times.
* But since it was the first one in the world, nobody knew what “DWF, 41, NONSMOK SEEKS S/DWM 30-40 for LTR” meant.

1836 – The Alamo was besieged by Santa Anna.
* We didn’t want you to forget.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2019 – Ariana Grande became the first solo artist to hold the top three spots on the U.S. Hot 100 in the same week, a feat previously accomplished only by The Beatles. The songs: No.1: “7 Rings,” No.2: “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” and at No.3: “Thank U, Next.”

2013 – Jermaine Jackson officially changed his last name to Jacksun. The third-oldest member of the Jackson 5, who unofficially took the name Mohammad Abdul Aziz upon his 1989 conversion to Islam, said he was making the new change for “artistic reasons.”

2006 – The iTunes Music Store reached 1 billion songs sold.

2003 – Norah Jones cleaned up at the 45th Grammy Awards, held at Madison Square Garden, New York. The singer/songwriter won Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal for “Don’t Know Why.”

2000 – Carlos Santana won eight Grammy Awards for his album “Supernatural,” tying the record set by Michael Jackson in 1983 for “Thriller.”

2003 – Howie Epstein, bass player with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died of a suspected drug overdose in New Mexico.

1991 – Whitney Houston achieved her 9th U.S. No.1 single in just over five years with her version of the Sister Sledge song “All The Man I Need.”

1989 – Isaac Hayes was jailed by an Atlanta judge for owing $346,300 in child support and alimony.

1985 – Stevie Wonder was arrested during an anti-apartheid demonstration outside the South African Embassy in Washington; he was released after being questioned by police.

1979 – Dire Straits played their first American show when they appeared in Boston.

1972 – Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla were legally separated. The couple had married in 1967.

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 will happen to around 90% of people at least once in their life. What is it?
They’ll get into a car accident

2. According to a recent survey, almost 30 percent of adults admit they’ve done THIS to save time. What is it?
They’ve gotten dressed while driving

3. According to a recent survey, 30 percent of drivers don’t know how to do THIS. What is it?
Fill their windshield wiper fluid

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