TUESDAY, Apr 29 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR TUESDAY, April 29, 2025
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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. We present only those specially designated days we feel your listeners would find most interesting or significant.)

NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY

NATIONAL SHRIMP SCAMPI DAY

NATIONAL TEACH CHILDREN TO SAVE DAY

WORLD WISH DAY
The anniversary of the wish that inspired the founding of Make-A-Wish® in 1980. More info at the Worldwish (dot)(org) website.

ZIPPER DAY
The Days Of The Year website says this:
“The exact birthday of the zipper is debated, but Zipper Day is traditionally celebrated on April 29. On that date in 1913, Swedish-American scientist and inventor Gideon Sundback received a patent for a curious contraption he called a ‘hook-less fastener’. Although similar inventions had been around since the 1850s, his version is widely accepted as the first modern zipper.”

April is:

Adopt a Greyhound Month
Car Care Month
Celebrate Diversity Month
D.E.A.R Drop Everything and Read Month
International Guitar Month
Jazz Appreciation Month
Keep America Beautiful Month
National Card and Letter Writing Month
National Garden Month
National Humor Month
National Poetry Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

SPIELBERG SAYS THE GREATEST AMERICAN FILM IS… “THE GODFATHER”

Directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas appeared together Saturday night at an American Film Institute event to honor one of their friends, Francis Ford Coppola, with the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award. Before handing over the well-deserved honor (* Well-deserved? He made, like, 4 good movies and 20 stinkers), Spielberg said, in his speech, “The Godfather, for me, is the greatest American film ever made.”
* Boy, he missed a great opportunity to promote “The Fablemans” there.
* I’ll bet during the entire event, nobody uttered the word “Megalopolis.”
* Worldwide total gross box office:
– Steven Spielberg: $10 billion+
– George Lucas: $10 billion+
– Francis Ford Coppola: $$981 million
OUCH!!!
* Clearly, Coppola’s mistake was not making movies with characters that would make good action figures.
* Greatest American movie ever? I would have gone with “Hot Tub Time Machine.” It distills everything great about the movies: the title is a cynical deflation of cinematic pomposity; the plot is an insightful commentary on American hedonism; and there’s some fantastic nude shots.

SOME NFL OWNERS DIDN’T WANT SHEDEUR SANDERS BECAUSE OF HIS EGO

It is now being reported that Shedeur Sanders, the University of Colorado quarterback who was expected to be snapped up quickly in the NFL draft but ended up going to the Cleveland Browns in the 5th round, was torpedoed by his own ego. Discussing the matter on his WFAN sports talk radio show Monday, Boomer Esiason claimed the 23-year-old Sanders wasn’t even on draft boards because some teams didn’t want to have to deal with him. Boomer said about Sanders, “He’s very high on himself, and I think he’s very off-putting to many, many coaches and general managers in the league.” He added, “I know this after talking to three different personnel people in the NFL this weekend, they didn’t even have him on their board. They took him off, and they took him off because the owner said, ‘Take him off, I don’t want that guy. I don’t want this … entitled person on our team,’ and I don’t blame them.” Esiason added Monday the quarterback’s father, Hall of Famer and CU head coach Deion Sanders, “didn’t help” matters with constantly hyping his son.
* I learned it from you, dad, OK? I learned it by watching you.
* Cleveland is the right place. Cleveland’s slogan is “The Humbling City.”
* His attitude? He’s from Colorado. Are you sure it wasn’t his altitude?
* Meanwhile, big-time quarterback coach Quincy Avery said Sanders’ game film showed he just didn’t have what it takes to be a first round pick: “The tape didn’t lead me to believe anything other than [Sanders should be a late-round pick],” Avery said Monday in a phone interview. “Like, he’s a backup at best.” Uh … so that’s better, right?

THE BUZZ

THE PHRASE THAT STUCK WITH YOU

Reddit asked, “What phrase did you hear only once but it stayed with you forever?” Some of the responses:
– “Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody is looking. Poster in my 5th grade teachers class. I’m now 35.”
– “Experience is the hardest teacher because it gives the test first and the lesson afterwards.”
– “Attack the problem not the person.”
– “Sometimes, a man on the right track gets hit by a train on the wrong one.”
– “No matter how far down the wrong road you are, turn around.”
– “Not everyone you lose is a loss.”
– “The way you talk to or scold your kids is the voice and tone they will learn to talk to themselves in. I became a much better parent after I realized how true that was, and I have made sure that any tone I take with my kids is loving and positive.”
– “Just because you’re good at suffering doesn’t mean you have to.”
– “If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no.”
– “Your ego is not your amigo.”
– “Your most important task while driving is to arrive safely.”
– “Grief is just love with nowhere to go.”
– “You can cut the grass or you can cut the grass crying, either way, you’re cutting the grass.”
* PHONE TOPIC: What phrase from the past has always stuck with you?

U.S. NEWS

WAYMO ROBOCAR DRIVES OFF WITH GUY’S VALUABLE EQUIPMENT

A California tennis instructor is suing the robocar company Waymo after one of its driverless cars drove off with his expensive sports equipment. Daniel Linley said he’d just been dropped off at San Francisco’s Golden State Park on February 7 when he went to get his gear from the trunk. The button to open the trunk was supposed to automatically appear in the app on his phone. It didn’t. As he was on the phone to Waymo, the car took off, with all his tennis and teaching gear. Mr. Linley said he lost a duffel bag full of tennis balls, a portable teaching cart, a couple of “ball hoppers,” and his personal tennis racquet. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact Waymo to be reimbursed, he filed a police report and is now seeking $12,500 in damages against the company – which is the maximum allowed in small claims – although he says he’s actually out a lot more (* Way mo’!) because, without the equipment, he can’t teach.
* Well, those that can’t teach, teach gym, so at least he has an alternate career option.
* Waymo cars not opening their trunks so they can steal stuff? What a racket.
* What is there really to tennis coaching? “OK, hit it a little harder this time, and try to get it over the net.”
* Not saying the guy doesn’t have a case, but let’s look online at the cost of what he lost:
– Duffle bag: $50
– Ball hopper (a basket to hold the balls) – $27 online
– Tennis racket: $150
– Tennis balls: Free, if you hang out at the dog park and don’t mind a little slobber.

$60 MILLION FIGHTER JET FALLS OFF AIRCRAFT CARRIER INTO THE SEA

A US Navy F-18 Super Hornet fighter jet slipped off an aircraft carrier and sank into the Red Sea by accident. The jet – which cost anywhere from $56 to $70 million apiece depending on which news source is reporting – was being towed out of a hangar Monday on the USS Harry S. Truman when the tractor pulling it lost control. Both the jet and the tractor fell overboard, according to the Navy. The pilot and the Navy sailor driving the tractor managed to jump free in time.
* And you think you had a bad Monday.
* It was a fighter jet, now it’s a submarine.
* “Top Gun Maverick 3: Oopsie!!”
* So we just reduced the size of government by how much?
* Never pull a plane out of the hangar when the boat is going down a hill.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

GERMAN MYSTERY WRITER FOUND MURDERED

A German bestselling novelist was found dead on a houseboat in Hamburg last Tuesday morning. Alexandra Frohlich, 58-year-old author of several murder mysteries, was shot, authorities confirmed. Investigators are looking for possible witnesses who might have seen strange activity on or near the long red houseboat where Ms Frohlich lived. Her houseboat was located on the bank of the Elbe River. She wrote her first crime novel, People Always Die, in 2016. Her last novel was in 2019, named Dirty Hands.
* What’s German for “Whodunnit”?
* People Always Die? She got that right.
* Only Murders in the Houseboat.
* She died doing what she loved?
* Did she have a butler? No? Well, then I’m stumped.
* Did James Patterson go to Germany recently?

MOUNT FUJI CLIMBER RESCUED TWICE IN FOUR DAYS

An inexperienced, unprepared Chinese hiker attempted to climb Japan’s Mount Fuji last Tuesday. The 27-year-old man lost his climbing crampons, got hit with altitude sickness, couldn’t move, and called for help. He was airlifted off the mountain. Four days later, he went back up the mountain to retrieve his cellphone and other belongings he left behind. About 2/3 of the way up, he got sick again. Another climber found him in bad condition and had to call for him to be rescued a second time.
* He’s sick of Mount Fuji. Literally.
* He must have the rescue team on speed dial by now, right?
* “Hi, Mountain Rescue? You probably don’t remember me, but…”
* Offer a reward for return of the phone, put it on the internet, make a fortune. That’s how you do it these days.

MYSTERY STRANGER KEEPS USING HOMEOWNER’S POOL

An Australian family says a stranger keeps sneaking into their backyard and using their swimming pool without permission. Brisbane homeowner Holly Stevens says the unknown man has taken at least five swims since January, and probably more. The man, who looks like he has been jogging, has been filmed on security cameras checking out the home, taking off his shoes at the front door, then sneaking around and taking a plunge in the pool, stretching his muscles and completing a few laps before leaving.
* If the worst he’s leaving behind in the pool is his sweat, they’re getting off easy.
* If only there was a way that a security camera could somehow detect motion and set off an alarm.
* Maybe he’s training for a triathlon… he runs, he swims. Maybe afterwards, he steals a bike.
* I’ve got one word for that family: Piranhas.

FINGER WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The finger wrestling championships were held this past Sunday in the town of Pang, Germany, located in the country’s Alpine region, where it originated as a way to settle disputes and remains popular. Around 180 competitors took part, with participants wearing traditional Bavarian costumes (* known worldwide as Oompah Clothes). Two competitors sit on opposite sides of a table and hook a middle finger through a small leather loop. A referee signals the start, and each contestant tries to swiftly pull the other across the table. The whole thing usually lasts a few seconds, and dislocated fingers are common. Said one contestant, “There will be open wounds and small injuries on the fingers from time to time. It looks worse than it really is, because there’s blood.” The winner moves to the next round (* loser gets a splint.) Only men take part in finger wrestling, because that is the custom.
* And also because women are smarter than that.
* Does the winner get a manicure?
* Does the winner move on to thumb wrestling? Rock/Paper/Scissors? Ink-a Bink A Bottle Of Ink?
* In America we’ve got a better use for our middle fingers.

TRENDING

TOBY KEITH’S DAUGHTER’S HORSE MADE IT INTO THE KENTUCKY DERBY

Late country singer Toby Keith’s daughter Krystal has gotten one of her father’s horses in this weekend’s Kentucky Derby. Keith was an avid horse racing fan who owned and trained racing thoroughbreds for years. His daughter has kept up the tradition. And in a social media post on Saturday, she wrote, “Our horse Render Judgment made it yesterday just hours before the post position drawing.” She said it was a dream her father had for “over 30 years.”

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

May 11, Sunday – Mother’s Day
May 26, Monday – Memorial Day
June 14, Saturday – Flag Day
June 15, Sunday – Father’s Day
June 20, Friday – Summer begins (The June solstice occurs at 10:42 P.M. EDT)

BIRTHDAYS

Megan Boone (actress, “The Blacklist”) … 42
Tyler Labine (actor, “New Amsterdam”) … 47
Uma Thurman (actress) … 55
Carnie Wilson (singer with Wilson Phillips) … 57
Michelle Pfeiffer (actress) … 67
Daniel Day-Lewis (actor) … 68
Kate Mulgrew (actress, “Orange Is The New Black”, “Star Trek: Voyager”) … 70
Jerry Seinfeld (comedian/actor) … 71
Duane Allen (country singer with The Oak Ridge Boys) … 82
Willie Nelson (country music legend, legendary stoner) … 92

Today’s Birthdays grade: Holy cow! The incredible Willie Nelson, giant 80s and 90s movie star Michelle Pfeiffer, the woman who Killed Bill, and – the luckiest man in the world, Jerry Seinfeld, whose comedic range extends from Pop-Tarts to the meaning of life (see today’s Birthday Quote). And a couple others. Stellar list! Grade: A.

[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!

“The thing about life that no one can believe, is that what we’re doing is actually it.”

(A) Dr. Phil
(B) Deepak Chopra
(C) Jerry Seinfeld

ANSWER: (C) Jerry Seinfeld

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2018 – Sweden’s official Twitter account confirmed Swedish meatballs actually originated in Turkey.
* Well, at least Sweden can still claim Gubbröra egg-and-anchovy salad, which Turkey wants nothing to do with.

1997 – A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.
* Sadly, it did not include Axe Body Spray.

1992 – The Los Angeles riots which claimed 54 lives and caused $1 billion in damage began after four police officers were acquitted of most charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.
* Rodney asked the public “Can’t we all just get along?”, one of the great rhetorical questions of all time.

1930 – The first telephone call was made over the England-Australia cable.
* I wonder which accent was harder to understand?

1913 – Gideon Sundback of Hoboken, New Jersey was granted a patent for the zipper.
* He had a weak bladder and needed a way to get his pants open faster.

1894 – Electric arc lights were used for the first time, in Cleveland.
* People agreed electric lights were a bright idea. Then they got their bills and they were shocked.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2023 – Country singer Willie Nelson celebrated his 90th birthday with the first of two concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Guest performers included Neil Young, Lyle Lovett, George Strait; Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Norah Jones, Chris Stapleton, Beck, Edie Brickell, Tom Jones, Ziggy Marley, and Snoop Dogg, who joined Nelson on their duet “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die.”

2009 – An anonymous Queen fan won a two-hour one-on-one guitar lesson with Brian May, after bidding approximately $11,900 at a private charity auction. The auction, in support of the Action for Brazil’s Children Trust, of which May was a patron, was held at the exclusive Cuckoo Club in London.

2007 – Avril Lavigne was at No.1 on the U.S. album chart with her third album “The Best Damn Thing.”

2001 – Rod Stewart asked for a change in wedding vows bringing them up to-date and to be treated like a dog license. Stewart said “a change is needed because they’ve been in existence for 600 years when people used to live until they were only 35.”

1998 – Steven Tyler broke his knee at a concert in Anchorage, Alaska delaying Aerosmith’s “Nine Lives” tour and necessitating camera angle adjustments for the filming of the video for “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”

1992 – Paula Abdul married actor Emilio Estevez. They separated in May, 1994.

1989 – Jon Bon Jovi married childhood sweetheart Dorothea Hurly on the steps of the Graceland Chapel, Las Vegas.

1976 – After a gig in Memphis, Bruce Springsteen took a cab to Elvis Presley’s Graceland home and proceeded to climb over the wall. A guard took him to be another overenthusiastic fan and apprehended him.

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. 78% of women and 60% of men surveyed say they regularly use THESE. What are they?
Coupons

2. On a woman, THIS is on average one-and-a-half times larger in circumference than a man’s. What is it?
Her thighs

3. When it comes to losing things, men are 3 to 4 times more likely to lose THIS than women. What is it?
Their hearing

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