THURSDAY, Feb 4 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR THURSDAY, February 4, 2021
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: TED’S EDIBLE VALENTINE’S UNDERWEAR; BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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.)

HOMEMADE SOUP DAY

NATIONAL STUFFED MUSHROOM DAY

NATIONAL THANK A MAILMAN DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“Thank a Mailman Day (* Should be “Letter Carrier”) is your chance to say thanks to the guy, or gal, who delivers your mail. After all, they are there six days a week. The reliable postal worker is always there doing their job, regardless of the weather. They are a hardy lot. You’ll find some mail carriers on walking routes, wearing shorts in all but the coldest of winter days. Did you Know? Pony Express riders were the most famous early American “mailmen”. Their motto was “Neither rain, nor snow, nor death of the night, can keep us from our duty”. This motto is believed to be taken in part from a motto dating back to ancient times. Among the most popular variation is “Through rain or snow, or sleet or hail, we’ll carry the mail. We will not fail”. Make it a point to catch your mail carrier enroute today. Give him or her a great big smile and a great big “TY”. If you happen to visit your local post office, give them a thank you, too.”

USO DAY

WORLD CANCER DAY

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

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

PROP BETS FOR THE SUPER BOWL

Every year, oddsmakers take what are called Prop Bets for the Super Bowl. These are bets placed on odd things happening during the game. For example:
– How many players will miss game due to COVID?
– Length of last ‘Brave’ in the National Anthem: Over/Under 6 seconds
– Will any scoring drive take less time than the Anthem length?
– How many times will Kindergarten be said? (Because Tom Brady started in his first Super Bowl when Patrick Mahomes was in kindergarten.)
– What will be said first? Groin or Hamstring?
– Which bag will be seen first during a Frito-Lay commercial? Lay’s, Doritos, Tostitos or Cheetos
– How many commercials will show a person wearing a mask?
– How many commercials will have a dog in them?
– Will Mr. Pringle touch his mustache in a Pringles Commercial?
– Will an M&M’s spokescandy be wearing a mask?
– What will be the primary color of Miley Cyrus’ hair in her tailgate show?
– Will Kenny G appear with the Weeknd during the halftime show?
– Will Michael Jackson hologram appear during the halftime show?
* What percent of Miley Cyrus’ butt will be showing?
* How many people will catch COVID due to the superspreader nature of the Super Bowl, to the nearest million?
* How much pizza will we eat to the nearest ton?
* So the game is so boring we have to try to jazz it up with this stuff? Sad.
* Will I switch over to the Puppy Bowl during the halftime show?

TAYLOR SWIFT SUED BY THEME PARK OVER “EVERMORE”

Evermore Park, a theme park in Pleasant Grove, Utah, has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Taylor Swift over her latest album, titled “Evermore.” Ken Bretschneider, the chief executive officer of Evermore Park, says the Utah theme park “has invested approximately $37,000,000 into the creation and promotion of Evermore Park and the EVERMORE trademarks.” Evermore is not a park with major rides. It describes itself as “an immersive experience theme park with trained actors who portray fantasy characters.” (* You know, like QAnon.) Since opening its doors in 2018, Bretschneider says the theme park has welcomed over 140,000 guests. Evermore Park’s website was in the top results of a Google search of “evermore.” After Taylor Swift’s album was released, that is no longer the case. Swift, as she does, has been trying to trademark everything with the name “Evermore” because of the album.
* So… Renaissance Festival?
* Her first choice for the album name was “Six Flags”.
* Sounds like this guy is suing Taylor Swift for trademark infringement over a theme park that is basically a Lord of the Rings infringement.
* $37 million and only 140,000 visitors? Sounds like this park ain’t gonna be around forevermore.
* Have the lawyers battle it out with a joust.

COUNTRY SINGER MORGAN WALLEN DESTROYS CAREER AGAIN

Country singer Morgan Wallen has had all his music pulled from radio and the CMT channel, including his current hit records, and his recording contract was suspended “indefinitely” after being caught on camera using a racial slur. The video, published by TMZ, was taken over the weekend by one of Wallen’s neighbors and appears to show Wallen loudly hurling profanities and the racial epithet in the street outside his home. The country singer and several friends had apparently been out in Nashville partying and arrived at his house around midnight. This is the second time Wallen’s partyin’ ways have gotten him in trouble. He was scheduled to be the musical guest last year on an October episode of Saturday Night Live, but was canceled after he was filmed partying, unmasked, during the pandemic shutdown the weekend before. Wallen issued a statement of apology for the video, calling his use of the slur “unacceptable and inappropriate,” and promised “to do better.”
* Look for Morgan’s new song, “Career Torpedo,” dropping next week.
* I don’t know. The last song on his latest album is “Quittin’ Time,” and maybe it is.
* Welcome to the Paula Deen wing of the Celebrity Hall of Fame.
* At least, when it comes to drinking songs, the man knows whereof he sings.

THE BUZZ

THREE DUMB HEADLINES

Time for another episode of Three Dumb Headlines. These are actual, word-for-word headlines of stories found on the internet. There’s no story, no context, just the actual headline. Discuss them amongst yourselves. Then, encourage listeners to vote for the Dumbest Headline on your station’s social media page. Maybe ask them to leave a comment. Reveal the results in the next break.

Today’s Dumb Headlines:
1. “Scientists Have Taught Spinach Plants To Send Emails”
2. “Statler, The Geriatric Fruit Bat”
3. “This Is What Happens When A Buddhist Nun Joins A Heavy Metal Band”

And here’s a spare, in case you don’t like one of those three: “The Accidental Sex Couch Tearing Facebook Mom Groups Apart”

GIFT YOURSELF ON VALENTINE’S DAY. YOU DESERVE IT.

At least one psychologist is recommending you buy yourself a gift this Valentine’s Day. Susan Harrington, a licensed professional counselor and most definitely NOT a shill for the Valentine industry, says “Valentine’s Day is all about love, but we often do not think of loving ourselves. Who do you spend the most time with everyday? Yourself.” So, do what you can to celebrate you and reframing the idea of Valentine’s Day to one that is focused on loving you because you’re worth the investment.
* Like I don’t buy myself enough chocolate the rest of the year.
* Maybe if I have a few drinks on Valentine’s evening I’ll get lucky with myself.
* All I got me was a lousy card.
* Still, it was better than last year. Last year I regifted myself with the heart-covered underwear I gave myself the year before.
* Oh my God, I don’t know what flowers I like!

U.S. NEWS

NOW NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI, WILL PAY YOU TO MOVE THERE

First, Tulsa, Oklahoma, said they will pay you $10,000 to move and work there. Now, Natchez, Mississippi, is doing the same thing, but they’re only going to pay you $6,000 to move there. Natchez wants remote workers who will relocate there and buy a home. The cash incentive includes up to $2,500 in moving expenses plus a $300 monthly stipend for a year to offset living costs. Natchez is a community of fewer than 15,000 people beside the lower Mississippi River. The median home listing price in Natchez is $168,000, according to Realtor.com. Need further incentive? In 2008, it declared itself the “biscuit capital of the world.”
* Natchez must be located on the part of the Mississippi River that doesn’t flood.
* Are you really allowed to give yourself the “capital of the world” designation? Isn’t there some governing committee that decides that?
* And shouldn’t these cities be required to tell us why everybody’s moving away? 27/7 manure smell from nearby farms? Chemicals in the water? Murder hornets?
* I wonder if you could start a bidding war between Tulsa and Natchez?
* You: “Hey, Natchez – I can get $4,000 more to move to Tulsa. What do you say to that?” Natchez says: “C’mon. Tulsa? Pfft. Go ahead – move to Tulsa. I dare you.”

AUDIO: UNBORN BABY MAKES AN ALBUM

If you’re a fan of avant-garde music, there is now an album made by an unborn baby. The baby’s name is Luca Yupanqui, the album is called “Sounds Of The Unborn.” Little fetus Luca is currently in the tummy of Elizabeth Hart, bass player for the experimental psychedelic band Psychic Ills. The album was made using biosonic MIDI technology that translated the fetus’ in-utero movements into sound. A MIDI device recorded the vibrations made by Yupanqui in the womb, sending them to her father’s synthesizers.
* This takes being “stage parents” to a whole new level.
* It’s what all the unborn kids are listening to these days.
* Wait until the kid’s entertainment lawyer gets hold of this and sues for unpaid royalties.
* Didn’t Nirvana already do this with “In Utero”?
* Now there’s a couple of six-month-olds starting a Luca Yupanqui cover band.
CLIP: A minute of the lead single “V4.3 pt. 2″.
CLIP URL: morningsidekick (dot)(com)/prep/wp-content/uploads/02-04-UnbornBabyAlbum.mp3

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

MAN BUYS HOARDER’S HOME, FINDS TREASURES

Alex Archbold runs an antique business in Canada. He buys and sells things for the business. He recently purchased the contents of a home that had belonged to a music teacher. He knew the house had a grand piano. He didn’t know the woman was a hoarder. Digging through piles of boxes and bags, he found a lot of trash, but then he started finding silver dollars, silver bars, wallets full of cash and bags containing gold and diamond rings – one was found stuffed inside of a shoe. Mr. Archbold said he spent $10,000 on purchasing the contents of the home, and after auctioning everything off he’s made about $400,000.
* So it was worth digging through the baggies full of feces.
* Why is this not a Discovery Channel show? Or is it already? They’ve got so many I can’t tell.
* Hoarders. Their brains just cannot process the concept “You cant’t take it with you.”
* I went through my parents’ house, all I found were silverfish and wallets full of prescription cards.
* PHONE TOPIC: Did you ever find a treasure in a late relative’s house? Or … something bizarre?

BURGER KINGS IN FRANCE ARE GIVING AWAY SACKS OF POTATOES

Due to Covid-related restaurant shutdowns, farmers are finding themselves with tons of unsold crops on their hands. Burger King in France is helping to save the country’s potato farmers. Burger King France recently purchased an extra 200 tons of potatoes to help out the farms, and the chain is now giving away the extra potatoes to customers. You buy a meal at Burger King drive-thru, they’ll hand you a two-pound bag of – I believe the French call them – “spuds.”
* It’s a new recipe called “potatoes au gratis.”
* They got the idea from IKEA: “Here are your French fries – some assembly required.”
* If I were McDonald’s in France, you know what I’d do? That’s right – send all my employees to Burger King for lunch, grab all their free potatoes, process them and sell them as McDonald’s fries.
* How about the frogs used for frog’s legs? Anybody giving out bags of frogs?

TRENDING

PEEPS RETURNING THIS EASTER

Peeps announced that it will be returning for Easter this year. The popular candy did not produce its usual Halloween and Christmas products in 2020, after the company was forced to temporarily shut down production earlier in the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. They decided to skip Valentine’s Day as well in order to produce enough Peeps for Easter.

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS

Here are the major category nominees:

Best TV Series, Comedy:
– “Emily in Paris”
– “The Flight Attendant”
– “The Great”
– “Schitt’s Creek
– “Ted Lasso”

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy:
– Lily Collins, “Emily in Paris”
– Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”
– Elle Fanning, “The Great”
– Jane Levy, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”
– Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy:
– Don Cheadle, “Black Monday”
– Nicholas Hoult, “The Great”
– Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
– Jason Sudekis, “Ted Lasso”
– Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”

Best TV Series, Drama:
– “The Crown”
– “Lovecraft Country”
– “The Mandalorian”
– “Ozark”
– “Ratched”

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama:
– Olivia Colman, “The Crown”
– Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”
– Emma Corrin, “The Crown”
– Laura Linney, “Ozark”
– Sarah Paulsen, “Ratched”

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama:
– Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
– Josh O’Connor, “The Crown”
– Bob Odenkirk, “Better Caul Saul”
– Matthew Rhys, “Perry Mason”
– Al Pacino, “Hunters”

Best TV Movie or Limited-Series:
– “Normal People”
– “The Queen’s Gambit”
– “Small Axe”
– “The Undoing”
– “Unorthodox”

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:
– “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
– “Hamilton”
– “Music”
– “Palm Springs”
– “The Prom”

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:
– Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
– James Corden, “The Prom”
– Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Hamilton”
– Dev Patel, “The Personal History of David Copperfield”
– Andy Samberg, “Palm Springs”

Best Motion Picture, Drama:
– “The Father”
– “Mank”
– “Nomadland”
– “Promising Young Woman”
– “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama:
– Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
– Riz Ahmed, “The Sound of Metal”
– Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”
– Gary Oldman, “Mank”
– Tahar Rahim, “The Mauritanian”

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama:
– Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”
– Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
– Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”
– Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”
– Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:
– Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
– Kate Hudson, “Music”
– Michelle Pfeiffer, “French Exit”
– Rosamund Pike, “I Care A Lot”
– Anya Taylor-Joy, “Emma”

TV TONIGHT

ABC – “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” – Three hours of reruns. Must not be a lot of celebrities who want to be on the show.

CBS – “Young Sheldon” – Georgie’s girlfriend thinks she’s pregnant. Awww … our little Georgie is all grown up!

CBS – “Mom” – The ladies’ friendships are tested when they live in close quarters during a sober retreat. Big deal. We’ve been stuck together since 2020 began.

NBC – “Mr. Mayor” – A mandatory staff meeting derails plans for the team’s favorite day of the month. Okay, but is anybody actually running the city?

NBC – “Superstore” – The staff fights over whether they should decorate the store for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, or Easter.

FOX – “Hell’s Kitchen” – Chef Ramsay informs the chefs that they will be pairing up to cook upscale Mexican cuisine. How do you make refried beans upscale?

FOX – “Call Me Kat” – Phil deals with the realization that one of his favorite childhood books is racist. Red Fish Blue Fish?

CW – “Walker” – It’s scoring pretty low on Rotten Tomatoes, but it’s still better than another showing of Whose Line Is It Anyway.

CW – “Legacies” – The students prepare to put on a musical about the founding of the Salvatore School. Yeah, ever since Buffy the Vampire Slayer did it, every show’s got to have a musical episode.

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

February 12, Friday – Lincoln’s Birthday
February 12, Friday – Chinese New Year (The Year of the Ox)
February 14, Sunday – Valentine’s Day
February 15, Monday – Presidents’ Day
February 16, Tuesday – Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
February 22, Monday – Washington’s Birthday
March 14, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Begins
March 17, Wednesday – St. Patrick’s Day
March 20, Saturday – Spring begins, Vernal Equinox is 5:37 a.m. EDT
March 21, Sunday – First full day of Spring

BIRTHDAYS

Natalie Imbruglia (singer) … 46
Rob Corddry (actor, writer, “The Unicorn”, “Ballers”, “Hot Tub Time Machine”) … 50
Clint Black (country singer) … 59
Alice Cooper (shock rock singer, birth name Vincent Damon Furnier) … 73

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

“If you get murdered – what a great thing. What a great publicity thing.”

(A) Mahatma Ghandi
(B) John Lennon
(C) Alice Cooper

ANSWER: (C) Alice Cooper

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2014 – Same-sex marriage was legalized in Scotland.
* Hoot Mon plus Mon!

2004 – The social networking website Facebook was launched.
* When I was a kid, my social networking site was called “outdoors.”

1997 – A civil jury in Santa Monica, Calif., found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
* Whoa – hold on. O.J. Simpson? When did this all happen?

1982 – A new indoor distance record of 47 meters was set for flying a paper airplane.
* And you thought the people who work at knocking down the most dominoes were pathetic.

1932 – The first electric typewriters went on sale.
* For you kids out there, electric typewriters were like word processors without the computers. You actually had to write the letter in your HEAD! PRETTY WEIRD!

1783 – Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.
* “Forget America. We’re going to try this again in India, and we’re going to get it RIGHT this time!”

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2017 – Black Sabbath, the band some credit with inventing heavy metal music, played their last concert. The two-hour gig at the NEC Arena in their home city of Birmingham saw the rock veterans play 15 songs, ending with their first hit, “Paranoid”. Ticker tape and balloons fell as singer Ozzy Osbourne, then 68, thanked fans for nearly five decades of support. Sabbath’s The End Tour began in the US in January of the previous year with 81 dates across the world.

2009 – Robert Plant said he felt Led Zeppelin couldn’t reunite for a full tour and album because the band feels incomplete without drummer John Bonham. During an interview on UK station Absolute Radio Plant stated, “The reason that it stopped was because we were incomplete, and we’ve been incomplete now for 29 years,” he said. He admitted: “I think the thing about it is really, is that to visit old ground, it’s a very incredibly delicate thing to do, and the disappointment that could be there once you commit to that and the comparisons to something that was basically fired by youth and a different kind of exuberance to now, it’s very hard to go back and meet that head on and do it justice.”

2003 – Courtney Love was arrested at Heathrow airport for “endangering an aircraft” on a transatlantic flight. The singer was said to have hurled abuse at the cabin crew on the flight from Los Angeles to London after her nurse who was in an economy seat was barred access to sit with Love in the upper class cabin.

2000 – Bjorn Ulvaeus, previously of the band Abba, confirmed that the members of Abba turned down a $1 billion offer by an American and British consortium to reform the group.

1983 – Singer Karen Carpenter died aged 32 of a cardiac arrest at her parents house. The coroner’s report gave the cause of death as imbalances associated with anorexia nervosa.

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. According to experts, when people take a shower, 75% of them wash THIS first. What is it?
Their stomach

2. Roughly 47% of adults never change THIS. What is it?
Their hairstyle

3. 44% of Americans surveyed think they’re good at THIS. What is it?
Dancing

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