FRIDAY, Jan 21 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR FRIDAY, January 21, 2022
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: FRIDAY CLUSTERFLICKS FOR 1/21

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 GRANOLA BAR DAY

NATIONAL HUGGING DAY
* Too bad none of this makes sense during Covid.
* Warning! Avoid #MeTwo misunderstandings! Make sure your hug is CONSENSUAL! In fact, you might want to get a sworn statement from the hugee declaring the hug is permitted before proceeding!
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“What a great day! This is an opportunity to give and to receive. Give a hug, and you automatically receive one in return. Sure, someone might not hug back. But, how often does that happen!?! Hugs are loving. Hugs are therapeutic. Hugs are caring. Hugs are celebratory. Hugs make you feel good inside. Have you ever received a hug from someone who didn’t care? I didn’t think so. That’s proof positive that you’re loved and cared about. Celebrate today by giving hugs to family, friends and loved ones. You’ll love the warm feeling you get. Origin of National Hugging Day: National Hugging Day was created in 1986 by Rev. Kevin Zaborney from Caro, Michigan. Strangely, this day is copyrighted. One would think that hugs should be given freely and without recourse. Regardless, we are thankful to the Reverend Zaborney for creating this day and would love to thank him with a great, big hug.”

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER DAY

SQUIRREL APPRECIATION DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“Squirrel Appreciation Day is an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate your tree climbing, nut gathering neighborhood squirrels. It’s held in mid-winter when food sources are scarce for squirrels and other wildlife. Sure, squirrels spend all fall gathering and ‘squirreling’ away food. But, their supplies may not be enough. And, the variety of food is limited. So, give them an extra special treat today to supplement their winter diets. Not everyone likes squirrels. While they are fun to watch skirting around the yard and trees, they are aggressive at bird feeders. Squirrels tip almost any bird feeder and spill the seeds in search of the particular seeds they want. In the fall, they attack pumpkins on front porches in search of the seeds inside. For gardeners they dig up and steal flower bulbs, and may eat some of the veggies in your garden. When you think about it, mid-winter is the best time to appreciate squirrels. In the winter they provide a little entertainment. During other times of the year, you may look at them as a pest in the flower and vegetable gardens. According to Christy Hargrove, the founder, ‘Celebration of the event itself is up to the individual or group – anything from putting out extra food for the squirrels to learning something new about the species.'”

WOMEN’S HEALTHY WEIGHT DAY

January is:

Adopt a Rescued Bird Month
Be Kind to Food Servers Month
Celebration of Life Month
Family Fit Lifestyle Month
Financial Wellness Month
Get Organized Month
National Candy Month
National Clean Up Your Computer Month
National Hobby Month
National Skating Month
National Train Your Dog Month
Walk Your Pet Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

WHAT TO WATCH

FRIDAY, Jan 21

“As We See It”
Amazon Prime Video New Series
Synopsis: Finding love, making friends, getting a job, adulting. Watch as three roommates on the autism spectrum navigate their early 20s with all its joy, tears and laughter. From the Emmy award winning Jason Katims (Parenthood, Friday Night Lights).

“Ozark”
Netflix Series Season Premiere
Synopsis: Netflix’s hit crime drama returns with more high-stakes action for Marty (Jason Bateman), Wendy (Laura Linney) and their family, allies and enemies.

“Servant”
Apple TV+ Series Season Premiere
Synopsis: From M. Night Shyamalan, “Servant” follows a Philadelphia couple in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy that creates a rift in their marriage and opens the door for a mysterious force to enter their home.

SUNDAY, Jan 23

“Billions”
Showtime Series Season Premiere
Synopsis: Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) is out of the picture, so Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) pivots to take on Michael Prince (Corey Stoll).

MONDAY, Jan 24

“The Gilded Age”
HBO Series Premiere
Synopsis: In 1882, young Marian Brook moves from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook, accompanied by Peggy Scott, an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start. Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, Marian must choose if she will follow the established rules of society or forge her own path.

“Promised Land”
ABC Series premiere
Synopsis: An epic, generation-spanning drama about a Latinx family vying for wealth and power.

“Snowpiercer”
TNT Series Season Premiere
Synopsis: Set more than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, this series centers on the remaining people, who inhabit a gigantic, perpetually-moving train that circles the globe.

“THE BATMAN” WILL BE THE LONGEST BATMAN

The upcoming Batman movie, called “The Batman,” in theaters this March and starring Robert Pattinson, will be the longest Batman movie ever. It has an official runtime of 176 minutes with credits, or 2 hours and 56 minutes. The runtime makes “The Batman” the longest Batman film ever made, besting the 165-minute runtime of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” It will be just five minutes shorter than “Avengers: Endgame” which was 181 minutes.
* It can’t be longer than that George Clooney “Batman” movie, which was interminable.
* Are there going to be any built-in breaks to go to the Batroom?
* In this one, Batman faces his arch enemy The Time Waster.
* 176 minutes. Next: Christopher Nolan re-edits HIS Batman, adding 12 minutes to make it 177 minutes long.

THE BUZZ

ALCOHOL: NOW IT’S BAD FOR YOU

You may want to grab a drink before I tell you this: The World Heart Federation wants to dispel the idea that a daily glass of wine may be good for you. Their position is that any level of drinking can lead to loss of healthy life. Monika Arora, member of World Heart Federation’s advocacy committee said: “The portrayal of alcohol as necessary for a vibrant social life has diverted attention from the harms of alcohol use, as have the frequent and widely publicized claims that moderate drinking, such as a glass of red wine a day, can offer protection against cardiovascular disease. These claims are at best misinformed and at worst an attempt by the alcohol industry to mislead the public about the danger of their product.”
* NOW they tell us!
* What, is this some propaganda move by the Legal Weed Growers Association?
* I’m not pointing fingers, Monika Arora, but it sounds like SOMEBODY woke up with a hangover.
* Hey, Monica – you know how much your announcement is going to reduce drinking. It’s a percent, and it starts with a “Z”.
* I find it hard to believe the alcohol industry would not have been forthcoming about the possible negative implications of their product for the last…when was beer invented?… 6,000 years.
* (Fact check: “… if you already enjoy a glass of red wine with your evening meal, drinking it in moderation may improve your heart health.” That’s from the website of a little place called the Mayo Clinic.)

U.S. NEWS

PILOT TURNS PLANE AROUND OVER ONE MASKLESS PASSENGER

An American Airlines London-bound flight from Miami turned around Wednesday night after one woman passenger refused to wear a mask. The flight was about an hour and a half out of Miami when it circled back because a passenger was not respecting the mask mandate. Once it landed, more than 100 passengers were informed they had to get off the plane. The maskless woman was met by security. American Airlines issued a statement apologizing for the inconvenience, and the passengers were re-booked for a Thursday flight.
* “Don’t make me turn this plane around!” That was my dad flying that plane.
* Dummies! Should have locked her in the bathroom! Or an overhead compartment!
* They probably needed airport security there to keep the other passengers from beating her up.
* What we need is KarenAirlines – the airline for people like this woman who know better than everybody else.
* KarenAir: there are no workers, every employee is a manager.

INFLUENCERS CLONING THEIR INFLUENCING PETS

Right out of a horror movie (* seriously, this is basically the plot of the movie “Moon”): Internet influencers who run popular pet accounts are now cloning their animals, so they can keep churning out content on their pets’ Instagram accounts after the original animal dies. Companies like Texas-based ViaGen uses the original pet’s cells to make an embryo, which is then transferred to a surrogate mother. Melain Rodriguez, client service manager at ViaGen said, “If someone made a living off of their pet and then suddenly their pet is gone, what do they do? Someone could clone their pet and replace the original. The world doesn’t have to know.” She added that after she brought this point up in a pet influencer conference, ViaGen got several clients that moved forward with cell preservation.
* First of all, give that woman a raise.
* If I had a pet cloning company, I’d call it Copy Cat. Or Double Dog Dare You.
* The next news you’re going to hear is when somebody has stolen the cloned animal and started a competing influencer site, claiming that they have the original animal.
* Sad. If they’d had this earlier, we wouldn’t have had to say goodbye to Lassie, Flipper, Trigger, Rin Tin Tin, Babe, My Friend Flicka, Cheetah, Spuds MacKenzie, Mr. Ed, or the Taco Bell Chihuahua.
* Could they do this with those little kids and their toy-unwrapping YouTube videos? If the kid gets too old, just have a clone kid in the wings ready to take over.

DID A GUY CRASH HIS PLANE JUST FOR YOUTUBE VIEWS?

The FAA is investigating a YouTuber, believing he purposely crashed his small plane so he could film it and get clicks. Trevor Jacob last November posted a YouTube video where he parachuted from a Taylorcraft BL64 plane and filmed it crashing into the hills of the Los Padres National Forest near Cuyama, California. During the flight, however, the Taylorcraft’s engine supposedly lost power, stalled, and could not be restarted. Jacob then pointed the plane nose-down and parachuted out, continuing to film himself and the plane crash as he descended. The video was immediately picked apart by aviation enthusiasts, who saw many irregularities and called out the crash as being staged. Whether or not Jacob will be prosecuted for the crash, or if he will have his pilot’s license revoked, is up to the FAA.
* You think the FAA is bad? Wait’ll his flight insurance company gets involved.
* Talk about committing to a bit.
* His career as a pilot crashed and burned.
* At least he has a bright future as a reality TV producer.

MUSEUM HOLDING GEN X EXHIBITION

The Illinois State Museum in Springfield is putting together a Gen X exhibit. It will be called “Growing Up Generation X”, and will open in the fall. They’re looking for stuff to add to the exhibit. Generation Xers were born from 1965 to 1980, what museum officials call the “last generation to have had an analog childhood.” Erika Holst, curator of history at the museum, says, “It’s a small generation. It’s kind of like a brief time frame, and it’s kind of overlooked a lot. So, it’s like time to give this generation its moment in the sun.” Curators are figuring out what needs to be part of the exhibit: portable cassette players, inline skates, slap bracelets, trapper keeper notebooks, America Online discs, original Nintendos or Ataris.
* Most of that generation went Goth, so they never actually had a “moment in the sun.”
* You know, I can go online and in about 15 seconds have an entire list of Gen-X stuff.
* It was such a small generation, they didn’t even get their own phrase, like “Okay, boomer.”
* How many of us are still paying off that Columbia House Records offer, ten albums for just a dollar?
* PHONE TOPIC: Are you a Gen Xer, born between 1965 and 1980? What unique thing from the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s would you put in the museum? Who were your teenage idols?

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

GUYS SAVE DOG USING A DRONE AND A SAUSAGE

Millie the dog was running free on some mudflats in Havant, England, and the tide was coming in. Police, firefighters and the coastguard tried to catch her; all failed. Someone came up with the idea of attaching a sausage to a drone and flying it out over the flats, luring Millie to safety. It worked, Millie followed the sausage to higher ground and was reunited with her grateful owner.
* Unfortunately, the sausage drone also lured the police, firefighters and coastguard out onto the mudflats.
* To catch a dog, you have to think like a dog. That’s where guys come in.
* Dogs are man’s best friend. Dogs’ best friend? Meat.
* It’s the same way they get Kevin James to the set.

TRENDING

PAMELA ANDERSON DIVORCING FOR THE FIFTH TIME

Pamela Anderson and her husband, Dan Hayhurst, are divorcing after one year of marriage. The former “Baywatch” star is filing for divorce in her native Canada, where she and her now-estranged husband have been living since they wed on Christmas Eve 2020. She was first married to rocker Tommy Lee. She then married and divorced Kid Rock in 2006. She went on to marry music producer Rick Salomon twice, first in 2007, which ended with an annulment, and again in 2013. Anderson then married film producer Jon Peters, to whom she was married for only 12 days. Then she started dating Hayhurst, variously described as a bodyguard, a bodybuilder and a builder.

“SURPRISE GUEST” AT “LUKE’S” “FUNERAL” FRIDAY ON “GENERAL HOSPITAL”

General Hospital is promising a “surprise guest” at the funeral of character “Luke Spencer” today (Friday). As you know, Luke was reported dead in an Italian gondola accident a couple of weeks ago. All of Port Charles will gather to mourn him in Friday’s episode, including some “surprise guests” who ABC has not yet revealed. (* Lemme guess… is it going to be… Luke???)

TAYLOR DYE GIVES BIRTH EARLY

Taylor Dye, of Maddie & Tae, and her husband Josh Kerr are parents. Dye gave birth to their daughter Leighton Grace Kerr at 2:42 p.m. on Monday, a couple of months early, after having been in the hospital for a little over one month. The baby weighed 2 lbs 5 oz. Dye was due to give birth in the spring. Josh Kerr shared on social media with pictures of their tiny daughter. “She decided to be a Capricorn like her daddy. We already can’t wait for the day we get to finally take her home.”

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

January 27, Thursday – Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day (UN)
February 1, Tuesday – Chinese New Year (The Year of the Tiger)
February 2, Wednesday – Groundhog Day
February 12, Saturday – Lincoln’s Birthday
February 14, Monday – Valentine’s Day
February 21, Monday – Presidents’ Day / Washington’s Birthday
March 1, Tuesday – Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
March 13, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Begins
March 17, Thursday – St. Patrick’s Day
March 20, Sunday – Spring begins, Spring Equinox is 11:33 a.m. EDT
March 21, Monday – First full day of Spring

BIRTHDAYS

Luke Grimes (actor, “Yellowstone,” “Fifty Shades” films) … 38
Emma Bunton (singer, “Baby Spice” of the Spice Girls) … 46
Ken Leung (actor, “The Blacklist,” “Marvel’s Inhumans,” “The Night Shift”) … 52
Charlotte Ross (actress, “Arrow,” “Glee”) … 54
Geena Davis (actress) … 66
Jack Nicklaus (retired pro golfer) … 82

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

“God, my life is weird.”

(A) Kanye West
(B) Miley Cyrus
(C) Geena Davis

ANSWER: (C) Geena Davis

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2010 – A bitterly divided Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, vastly increased the power of big business and labor unions to influence government decisions by freeing them to spend their millions directly to sway elections for president and Congress.
* They always did it, but now they can do it OPENLY.

2004 – The recording industry sued 532 computer users it said were illegally distributing songs over the Internet.
* And THAT put an end to THAT.

1994 – Lorena Bobbitt was acquitted of charges relating to cutting off her husband’s penis, on the grounds of temporary insanity.
* If you were on that jury, would YOU want to get on her bad side?

1954 – The first atomic submarine was launched, America’s “USS Nautilus”.
* ‘Cause it would be FUN to be stuck thousands of feet underwater in a tin can with a NUCLEAR REACTOR.

1865 – In Pennsylvania, an oil well was drilled a new way for the first time – with torpedoes.
* It was a pretty good turn of events for a submarine that was seriously off course.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2015 – An Israeli man was arrested on suspicion of hacking into the computers of pop stars including Madonna and selling unreleased songs online. During the investigation it appeared the suspect had broken into the computers of a number of international artists, stole unreleased demos and final tracks and sold them over the internet. Adi Lederman, 39, eventually admitted the crime as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, and was sentenced to 14 months in jail and fined $4,000.

2012 – Adele was at No.1 on the U.S. album chart with her second studio album “21”. The album yielded five hit singles.

2003 – David Palmer, former keyboard player for Jethro Tull, changed his name to Dee Palmer after a successful sex change operation. Palmer was the keyboard player for Jethro Tull between 1969 and 1980. He played on all the Tull classics including “Thick As A Brick” and “Aqualung.”

1998 – James Brown, 64, was released from a hospital where he had been treated for an addiction to painkillers.

1966 – Beatle George Harrison married Patti Boyd. She would later divorce him and marry Eric Clapton.

1964 – Americans got their first televised look at the Beatles when “Tonight Show” host Jack Parr showed film clips of the Fab Four performing in London.

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. Experts say doing THIS throughout the work week will improve your mood. What is it?
Thinking about the weekend

People do THIS all the time on weekends; rarely on weekdays. What is it?
Relax

3. 35% of us will do THIS at least once this weekend. What is it?
Pay a bill

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