MONDAY, Dec 23 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR MONDAY, December 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 – 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.)

FESTIVUS
Wikipedia says this:
“Festivus, a well-celebrated parody, has become a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 that serves as an alternative to participating in the pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season. Originally a family tradition of scriptwriter Dan O’Keefe, who worked on the American sitcom Seinfeld, the holiday entered popular culture after it was made the focus of a 1997 episode of the program. The holiday’s celebration, as it was shown on Seinfeld, includes a Festivus dinner, an unadorned aluminum Festivus pole, practices such as the ‘Airing of Grievances’ and ‘Feats of Strength,’ and the labeling of easily explainable events as ‘Festivus miracles.’ The episode refers to it as ‘a Festivus for the rest of us,’ referencing its non-commercial aspect. It has also been described both as a ‘parody holiday festival’ and as ‘a form of playful consumer resistance.'”

HUMANLIGHT
From various sources:
HumanLight is a Humanist holiday celebrated on December 23. Like Kwanzaa, HumanLight is a modern invention, created to provide a specifically Humanist celebration near Christmas and the northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice. It was established by the New Jersey Humanist Network in 2001. Humanists have cast HumanLight as a celebration of “a Humanist’s vision of a good future,” a celebration of human reason, compassion, and hope.

NATIONAL CHRISTMAS MOVIE MARATHON DAY

NATIONAL PFEFFERNUSSE DAY
The Foodimentary website says this:
“Five Food Finds about Pfeffernusse: Pfeffernusse is a variant of German Lebkuchen, or gingerbread. Pferffernusse cookies differ from regular German gingerbread in that they are rolled into balls and then glazed with powdered sugar after baking. Pferffernusse literally means ‘pepper.’ A traditional Pfeffernusse cookie will be too hard to eat for the first few days without dipping in liquid. The cookies do soften with age and more modern recipe adaptations have been made to make them soft from the start.”

NATIONAL ROOTS DAY
Honor your heritage and explore your family’s roots.

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

WHAT TO WATCH – New and Returning Shows and Movies
Premiering Monday through Wednesday
Listings sourced from the TV Guide, EW and other websites

TUESDAY, December 24

“ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chief’s Clothing”
Prime Video – New Documentary
Synopsis: Kansas City Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babudar, aka ChiefsAholic, rose to fame with his antics, but a secret life came to light when he was arrested, unraveling a series of unsolved bank robberies committed across the Midwest.

“SPECIAL: Your Friend, Nate Bargatze”
Netflix – Comedy Special
Synopsis: Features comedic stories about being a man of the 1900s, marriage dynamics, and more.

WEDNESDAY, December 25

“Doctor Who”
Disney+ – Christmas Special
Synopsis: When Joy checks into a London hotel in 2024, she opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel — discovering danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the Earth, just in time for Christmas.

THE BUZZ

WHAT WOULD YOU PAY FOR A STRESS-FREE CHRISTMAS?

Yelp surveyed 2,250 Americans asking how much they would pay to have a stress-free Christmas. The amounts were averaged, and here are the results:
How much would Americans pay:
– To have someone put up the holiday decorations around your home for you: $143
– To have all your holiday shopping done for you: $121
– To have all gifts perfectly wrapped: $96
– To feel the holiday spirit/get excited as you did when you were a little kid: $259
– To guarantee your partner loves their gift (not including the cost of the actual gift): $134
– To have the entire holiday meal done (ingredients bought, cooked, served up, all the washing up done in your home): $146
– To avoid the in-laws this holiday: $158
– To guarantee a harmonious holiday dinner with no talk of politics at the table: $152
– To have all the decorations taken down for you at the end of the holiday: $128
* Wow. I should have started saving up for this back in Spring.
* Perfectly wrapped gifts? Thanks, but I’m no dummy – I switched to gift bags with tissue paper years ago.
* For crying out loud, Americans – suck it up! It’s Christmas!
* Notice there’s a difference between what Americans would pay, and what the people who would do it would charge.

U.S. NEWS

WOMAN WINS, THEN LOSES TOILET PAPER FOR A YEAR

Has this happened to you? A Connecticut woman got an email saying she won a year’s worth of Charmin toilet paper. Judy Senft received the congratulations email from Charmin not long after taking an online quiz, and she was psyched for the surprise win. But hours later, the company sent her another email with this subject line “Oopsie, we made a Poopsie!” She had, in fact, not won a year’s worth of Charmin. Instead, the company gave her a $2 coupon. But she isn’t alone. Other consumers across the country have posted the same experience on social media. They say that when you call Charmin, you get this recording: “If you are calling about an email you received regarding winning the Charmin Super Mega Sweepstakes, unfortunately, the email was sent in error. We apologize for any confusion. No additional action is needed.”
* And there she sat, all brokenhearted.
* Looks like the company has quite a mess to wipe up.
* They just want to put it behind them.
* How about a class-action suit for emotional distress?
* Dreams of endless toilet paper, flushed away.
* As corporate screw-ups go, it’s not as bad as the web address on “Wicked” doll boxes leading to a porn site, but still …

FIRST CLASS PASSENGER DOWNGRADED FOR A DOG

In a new Reddit post, a man calling himself @Ben_Bob complained that he had been upgraded to a first class seat on Delta, but then was told a few minutes later that he couldn’t have it. He asked the desk agent what was going on and she said “something changed.” When he boarded the plane he saw that his first class seat was occupied by a big white dog wearing a “Service Animal” vest. And, his newly assigned seat was worse than the one he had originally booked, although it was a bulkhead seat with extra legroom. He wrote, “I am livid.” Delta told him that the law is any human passenger may have to be relocated to accommodate service animals — and Delta said there is “nothing they can do” in these situations. He wrote, “There is no way that dog has spent as much with this airline as I have … What an absolute joke. What’s the point of being loyal to this airline anymore, truly. I’ve sat back when others complained about this airline mistreating customers lately and slipping in service levels, but I’m starting to question my allegiance as well.”
* Honestly, I don’t know who to root for in this story. Except the dog.
* This sounds like Let’s Make a Deal: “Ben, you’ve traded the seat you had for one up front, Let’s open airplane door Number One and see what you get: Ohhhhh, you got zonked!”
* Yes, he needs to switch his allegiance to another airline, ’cause there are so many out there that treat their customers really well. Yup.
* Ben_Bob thinks that since he was UPGRADED to first class, he deserved the same special treatment as actual rich people. That’s so cute.
* There’s a simple answer to this. He needs to get a puppy.

NYC DOESN’T LIKE PIZZERIA’S SOLUTION TO OUTDOOR DINING: A SCHOOL BUS

New York City officials are telling a Brooklyn pizzeria that they can’t get around outdoor dining laws by letting people eat in a school bus parked in front of the store. L’Industrie owner Massimo Lavegia says he thought it was a cool idea. “When you’re a small shop like this you fit 7 to 8 people, but if you get an extra 20 to 30 seats it makes a world of difference.” The bus had been renovated with new lights, seating and solar panels to power the lights. It’s been parked on the street since October; from the outside it looks like a yellow school bus parked along the city street. They move it two days a week for street cleaning. Over 13,000 restaurants in the city have been ordered to dismantle their outdoor dining areas – many of them shed-like structures – which were installed during the pandemic. Lavegia argues that the bus is technically not a structure or a building.
* Sounds like he’s about to get schooled.
* What if they keep the bus moving around the block, like a school field trip?
* If he doesn’t shut it down, he gets detention. In the slammer!
* If they win their case, you’re gonna want to invest in school bus makers.
* Hmm … a bus is not technically a structure or a building. Hey – neither are hot air balloons! Worth a try, no?

PARTY CITY GOING OUT OF BUSINESS

Party City, the party supplies store, is closing down all of its stores, ending nearly 40 years in business. CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees Friday that Party City is “winding down” operations immediately and that was their last day of employment. Staff were told they will not receive severance pay, and they were told their benefits would end as the company goes out of business. Litwin said the company struggled to contend with inflation, which sent the company’s costs higher and dragged down consumer spending.
* Inflation? So the wholesale price of those five-dollar bags of party favors made in China went from three cents to four cents?
* Not even a goodbye party. How ironic!
* Their stock isn’t even worth the pink and green and blue crepe paper it’s printed on.
* The store is filled with nothing but paper products. They could literally just run every store though a shredder and create mulch for the environment.
* Whatever. Walmart will pick up the slack, just like with every other chain that’s gone under.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

BRITISH WOMAN WAKES UP FROM STROKE WITH AN ITALIAN ACCENT

A British grandmother and her family were left bewildered when she started speaking with an Italian accent after she woke up from a stroke. Althia Bryden, 58, picked up the accent after her May medical event — adopting a stereotypical Italian accent as she uttered words such as “Mamma Mia,” “bambino” and “si,” during conversations. Her doctors suspect she may be suffering from a rare neurological condition called “foreign accent syndrome,” which can happen after traumatic brain injuries. Her husband Winston recalled being “speechless” at his wife’s sudden Italian transformation. Their son even had to excuse himself to laugh at the bizarreness of the situation. Althis says she still wakes up every day wishing her old voice would return.
* Beside, her family is tired of getting their cheeks pinched all the time. “You such a good-a boy! mmmMMM!”
* She also keeps trying to pay for stuff with euros.
* I bet her cooking’s improved.
* Another nice change – wine with lunch.

TRENDING

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (12/20-12/22)

1. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – $60 million
2. Mufasa: The Lion King – $35 million
3. Wicked – $13.5 million
3. Moana 2 – $13.1 million
5. Gladiator 2 – $4.5 million

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

TOMORROW – Christmas Eve
Dec. 25, Wednesday – Christmas
Dec. 31, Tuesday – New Year’s Eve
Jan. 1, Wednesday – New Year’s Day

BIRTHDAYS

Spencer Daniels (actor, “Mom”) … 32
Eddie Vedder (U.S. rock singer with Pearl Jam) … 60
Harry Shearer (U.S. actor, comedian, “The Simpsons,” “Spinal Tap”) … 81

Today’s Birthdays grade: A big 90s rock star, and a Spinal Tap member who’s become a multi-millionaire as a 35-year voice actor on The Simpsons. B.

[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 need drugs to make my life tragic.”

(A) Lindsay Lohan
(B) Kim Kardashian
(C) Eddie Vedder

ANSWER: (C) Eddie Vedder

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2009 – The parents who pulled the “balloon boy” hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show were sentenced to jail by a judge in Fort Collins, Colo.
* That popped their balloon.

1986 – The first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling was completed by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager as they landed an experimental airplane at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
* I don’t know what this could possibly be good for, but if you see Dick or Jeana, tell ’em, “Good job!”

1951 – The first coast-to-coast televised football game took place.
* This would have been the perfect time to buy shares of La-Z-Boy.

1947 – Walter H. Brattain, John Bardeen and William Shockley of Bell Laboratories invented the first working transistor, which led to all modern electronics.
* Notice it was just six months after that UFO crashed in Roswell in July.

1913 – The U.S. Federal Reserve System was established.
* And STILL nobody understands it.

1888 – Artist Vincent Van Gogh sliced off half of his right ear.
* So besides being a great painter, he was also one of the first “performance artists.”

1823 – The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (T’was the night before Christmas …) by Clement C. Moore was published in the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel.
* Santa had some great publicity people back then.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2019 – Mariah Carey was being sued by a former nanny seeking compensation for “emotional distress” after working for the singer. Maria Burgues filed the lawsuit claiming that she was fired after complaining about her working conditions.

2002 – Sir Paul McCartney was granted his own coat of arms by Britain’s College of Arms. The honor featured a Liver Bird, highlighting his Liverpool connections.

1996 – Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx married TV’s “Baywatch” star Donna Deruico.

1985 – Judas Priest fans Raymond Belknap and James Vance shot themselves after listening to the Judas Priest album “Stained Class.” The two had drunk beer, smoked marijuana and then listened to the album for hours. Afterwards they took a shotgun to a nearby school playground where Belknap shot and killed himself. Vance then blew away his jaw, mouth and nose but lived for more than three years before dying of effects of the shooting.

1977 – Cat Stevens formally changed his name to Yusef Islam.

1964 – During a U.S. tour Beach Boy Brian Wilson had a nervous breakdown during a flight from Los Angeles to Houston. Wilson left the band to concentrate on writing and producing. Glen Campbell replaced Wilson for the band’s live shows.

1959 – Chuck Berry was arrested after taking 14-year-old Janice Norine (who unbeknownst to Berry was working as a prostitute), across a state line. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail but after racist comments by the judge Berry was freed.

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. In a typical year, Americans spend about $4 billion on THIS. What is it?
Holiday decorations

2. About 58% of pet owners do THIS for the holidays. What is it?
Include their pets in holiday portraits

3. 59% of people say they do THIS during the holidays. What is it?
Check their work email

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