FRIDAY, Sept 20 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR FRIDAY, September 20, 2024
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: OKTOBERFEST – THE WAKING SONG; 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, or the hundreds of disease awareness listings which occur each year.)

NATIONAL PEPPERONI PIZZA DAY

PUNCH DAY (Some sources say NATIONAL RUM PUNCH DAY)
The Days Of The Year website says this:
“The word punch means five, originating from the Hindustani word panch. Punch Day celebrates the traditional punch base recipe of five key ingredients, which most punches still use – alcohol (usually spirits), lemon (or other fruits), sugar, water, and tea (or other spices, such as cinnamon).”

NATIONAL POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY (The third Friday of September)

September is:

Baby Safety Month
Better Breakfast Month
Chicken Month
Classical Music Month
Hispanic Heritage Month
Honey Month
Little League Month
National Piano Month
Self Improvement Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

THIS SURELY WILL BRING PEOPLE BACK TO THE MOVIE THEATERS

The eight biggest theater chains in the U.S. and Canada announced that they plan to invest more than $2.2 billion to modernize and upgrade their theaters over the next three years. The investment will cover everything from improved sound and projection to upgrading dining experiences — plus, in some locations, investing in attractions like pickleball and ziplines. (* Let that sink in a moment: you’re going to the movies to play pickleball and zipline.) Michael O’Leary, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, tells Variety, “Across the industry, we’re feeling that perhaps we’ve turned a corner. The audiences are coming back to the theaters. There’s just a very positive kind of feeling about the future.” Meanwhile, summer box office totals this year are running about 13% below last year. Mr. O’Leary says theater chains will use the funds for laser projection technology, immersive sound systems, more comfortable seating, state-of-the-art air conditioning, lighting, signage and carpeting: “Consumers today are very demanding and they want to have a range of things that they can do in any given setting.” In some cases, he says, that means adding pickleball courts, ziplines, arcades, bowling alleys and more attractions to keep moviegoers busy at theater complexes.
* But ticket prices won’t go up to pay for all this crap, right? Right???
* I think Mr. O’Leary wishes he worked at an amusement park.
* Have they tried turning up the volume? I don’t think the movies are loud enough. I mean, the picture’s over, and there’s still paint on the walls.
* Each recliner seat should have its own flat screen TV so you can stream “The Bear” while you’re watching the movie.
* Also, maybe they could have the audience vote on which three preview trailers they want to see, instead of running all 20?
* Now I’m really excited to see the 18th Batman remake and the 24th Spider-Man remake.

THE BUZZ

MY STRANGE(R) EXPERIENCE

Reddit asked, “What is a memorable experience you had with a stranger?” Some of the responses:
– “A customer at the health food store I worked at years ago grabbed my hand and read my palm. Spot on. Never saw him before or since.”
– “Once, I was lost in a foreign city and a random old lady took me out for coffee, gave me a mini tour, and even refused to let me pay. She didn’t speak much English, but it was the sweetest thing ever.”
– “I was at the bus stop super early one morning. One morning, there was a meteor. One other guy at the stop turned to me and said with a super serious face ‘you know our souls are forever linked now.'”
– “Met this random dude at a coffee shop who ended up giving me free tickets to a concert he couldn’t go to. Totally made my day!”
– “My youngest was 4. She’s partially disabled and a wheelchair user. She’d met this man the day before whose house was at the entrance to a park. He’s Native. The next day, I take my daughter to the park, and I got to meet the man as well. He was wearing a baseball cap with a couple of porcupine quill earrings stuck hanging on it. He explained to my daughter they were his mother’s, and she had made them back in the 1950s. He then proceeded to give them to my daughter. I asked if he was sure, since they were clearly something that had deep meaning to him. I’ll never forget what he said: “They are going where they belong.”
* PHONE TOPIC: Do you have a cool experience with a stranger to share? (No sex stories, please. This isn’t Woodstock.)

U.S. NEWS

COP ROBOT CATCHES SUSPECT

A wanted suspect in Lubbock, Texas, was captured by a police robot. Felix Delarosa, 39, had barricaded himself inside a Days Inn motel room Wednesday morning, when he was struck by a sheriff’s office sniper. Police then sent a bomb squad robot in to spray tear gas through a broken window. Delarosa first fired a shot at the robot and then threw bedding over it to block the gas from coming into the room. The robot arm tossed off the sheet and then ran over Delarosa, pinning him to the ground outside the hotel room. He eventually surrendered.
* Maybe not as cool as Robocop, but it got the job done.
* “You have five seconds to comply, or I will sit on you.”
* In jail: “Hey, Delarosa, what’s with the tread marks on your chest?” “Shut up.”
* This is fine but when are they going to start rolling out those Boston Dynamics robot dogs?
* Let’s pause for a moment in sympathy for the next person to get that Days Inn motel room.

DEFECTIVE BEDS RECALLED

Nearly 138,000 platform beds sold at major retailers including Amazon and Walmart are being recalled because they can collapse, posing fall and injury risks. The Lucid-brand platform beds with upholstered tufted headboards have been responsible for at least 245 incidents in the U.S. and Canada, resulting in 18 related injuries such as contusions and bruises. The Lucid company says the beds were manufactured between 2019 and 2021, and continued to be sold at major retailers through April 2024. In addition to Amazon and Walmart, they were also sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, eBay, Home Depot, Macys, Target.com, Wayfair and other retailers.
* The bed company is called Lucid, but their designers have a screw loose. And so do their beds.
* When you heard “upholstered tufted headboards,” how many of you thought, “Oh, LAH-DEE DAAAHHH!!!”
* Correct me if I’m wrong, but when a bed breaks, the worst that can happen is you drop about ten inches onto a mattress, right?
* Unless you’re the Three Stooges and you stack three of them high like a triple bunk bed, in which case you don’t want to be Moe.
* If you haven’t broken a bed or two in life, you’re not doing it right.

THE RATTIEST CITIES

Pest-control company Terminix has ranked the 50 most rodent-infested cities based on what locales use their services most often. Here are The Ten Rattiest Cities In America:
1. New York City
2. San Francisco
3. Los Angeles
4. Philadelphia
5. Washington, DC
6. Chicago
7. Houston
8. Boston
9. Dallas
10. Atlanta
* New York City wins the rat race!
* And Atlanta makes the list by a whisker!
* We’re not gonna tell you Number 11. You’re just going to have to guess that one for yourselves.
* So has Terminix not even made a dent? Maybe these people should call Orkin.
* I’m telling you, the answer is to ship all those python snakes they catch in the Everglades to these cities. Your rat problem will be gone in three, maybe four birth cycles.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

THAI WOMAN RESCUED FROM PYTHON

A Thai woman was rescued by police after being strangled by a huge python for more than two hours. The 64-year-old woman was doing the dishes at home on the outskirts of Bangkok when she felt a bite on her thigh. Then a python – estimated to be 13 to 15 feet long – wrapped itself around her waist until she fell to the ground. She struggled to free herself from the snake’s tightening coils. She called out for help, but no one answered initially. Eventually, one of her neighbors was walking by, heard her calling and sought assistance from police. It took a half hour to get the snake off. Police and animal control officers used a crowbar to hit the snake on the head until it released its grip. Police say it slithered away before it could be captured.
* “Yeah, that’s it – a 15-foot snake, it just, uh, slithered away quickly.”
* Boy, first-world problems, huh?
* And she doesn’t even like being hugged.
* A similar thing happened to me last week. I accidentally let a moth in.
* Florida: this is your future.

ALMANACNOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

TODAY – National POW/MIA Recognition Day (The third Friday of September)
Sept. 22, Sunday – Fall begins (Autumn Equinox is 8:44 a.m. EDT)
Oct. 14, Monday – Columbus Day
Oct. 16, Wednesday – National Boss’s Day
Oct. 31, Thursday – Halloween
Nov. 3, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Ends, turn clocks back 1 hour
Nov. 11, Monday – Veterans Day
Nov. 28, Thursday – Thanksgiving

BIRTHDAYS

Jon Bernthal (actor, “The Many Saints of Newark,” “The Punisher,” “The Walking Dead”) … 48
Ben Shepherd (bass player with Soundgarden) … 56
Kristen Johnston (actress, “Mom,” “3rd Rock from the Sun”) … 57
Gunnar and Matthew Nelson (music duo, twin sons of Ricky Nelson) … 57
Gary Cole (actor, “Veep,” “The Good Wife”) … 68
George R.R. Martin (author, “A Song of Ice and Fire” (Game of Thrones) … 76
Sophia Loren (actress) … 90

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

“Boy, there are days where I get up and say ‘Where the hell did my talent go?'”

(A) Eddie Murphy
(B) Melissa McCarthy
(C) George R.R. Martin

ANSWER: (C) George R.R. Martin

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2023 – Near Kalambo Falls, Zambia, researchers found the earliest known evidence for humans building with wood – nearly half a million years old.
* I built a wooden doghouse once. It almost lasted the whole summer.

2013 – Video game “Grand Theft Auto” became the fastest entertainment product to reach $1 billion in sales.
* Although, as soon as you drove it off the lot, it lost 10% of its value.

2011 – The United States military ended its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.
* Like Barry Goldwater said in 1993, “You don’t have to be straight to shoot straight.”

1997 – The Chilean Festival of Cat Cookery, featuring top dishes made from kitties, was canceled after protests by animal rights groups.
* And by North Korean restaurants who accused them of stealing their recipes.

1951 – A jet flew over the North Pole for the first time.
* Sadly, too high to spot Santa’s Workshop.

1893 – The first gasoline-powered car debuted in Springfield, Massachusetts.
* “Hey, wait – there aren’t any gas stations!”

1859 – George Simpson patented the electric range.
* The early models weren’t too powerful – a three-minute egg took about four-and-a-half days.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2005 – Canadian JD Fortune beat two other finalists to become the new lead singer with INXS after a worldwide search to replace the late Michael Hutchence. INXS held auditions in six continents as part of a reality TV series.

1986 – Huey Lewis and the News started a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S.singles chart with “Stuck With You.”

1976 – AC/DC released their third studio album “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” The album has been certified 6x Platinum in the U.S., having sold at least 6 million copies.

1975 – David Bowie had his first No.1 song in the U.S., “Fame.”

1973 – Jim Croce was killed in a plane crash on his way to Sherman, Texas for a concert.

1970 – Doors singer Jim Morrison was found guilty of indecent exposure after he flashed on stage.

1957 – Buddy Holly released the single “Peggy Sue.”

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. About 20% of people surveyed said they want to be buried with THIS. What is it?
Their cell phone

2. 65% of social media users are more likely to post a photo of THIS adult beverage than any other. What is it?
A margarita

3. It takes you longer to do THIS if you do it using a computer. What is it?
Reading

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