TUESDAY, Sept 3 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR TUESDAY, September 3, 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, or the hundreds of disease awareness listings which occur each year.)

BRING YOUR MANNERS TO WORK DAY
The Days of the Year website says this:
“Bring Your Manners To Work Day was created by The Protocol School of Washington to remind people of the importance of treating people with courtesy and respect in the workplace. Everyone should practice good manners, whether at work or at home. Common bad manners at work include things like loud ringtones, not cleaning up after yourself and impolite conversation.”

SKYSCRAPER DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“Skyscraper Day is a day to appreciate and admire the world’s tallest skyscrapers. Skyscrapers are truly engineering and architectural marvels. In many crowded cities, space is in short supply, and real estate prices are ever increasing. Building ‘up’ becomes more and more logical. As technical capabilities in construction have improved, skyscrapers have become taller and taller. In addition, there is a certain prestige to have one of the tallest structures in the world in your city.”

U.S. BOWLING LEAGUE DAY

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

WHAT TO WATCH – New and Returning Shows and Movies
Premiering Tuesday and Wednesday
Listings sourced from the TV Guide and EW websites

TUESDAY, September 3

“English Teacher”
Hulu – New Series
Synopsis: A high school English teacher in Austin, Texas, loves his job but frequently gets stuck in the bureaucratic red tape that prevents him from being his true self.

“Phil Wang: Wang in There, Baby!”
Netflix – Comedy Special
Synopsis: The comedian riffs on reheated rice, octopus intelligence and the importance of fact-checking in this special filmed at Shakespeare’s Globe in London.

“Untold: Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer”
Netflix – New Documentary
Synopsis: World Cup champion Hope Solo opens up about her turbulent rise to the top of women’s soccer amid public scandals and tension with former teammates.

WEDNESDAY, September 4

Season Premieres:
Apple TV+ – “Slow Horses”
Hulu – “Tell Me Lies”
Netflix – “Outlast”

AUDIO: TAYLOR SWIFT IS DRAWING UP FOOTBALL PLAYS FOR THE CHIEFS NOW

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said in an NBC Sports interview with Any Reid posted last Thursday – he actually said this – that Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, has become such a football fan she has been trying her hand on drawing up plays. Here’s the quote: “She’s really interested in football, and she asks a lot of great questions. Started drawing up plays. We might have to put one in.”
* I believe you’re not required by law to do anything Taylor Swift asks.
* It’s called the Ol’ Quarterback Sneak Costume Change.
* “No, Taylor, you can’t have every play end with ‘…and Travis gets the ball.’ You just can’t.”
* If you think this is weird, you should hear the songs Travis Kelce has been writing.
CLIP: Sports journalism at its finest: Patrick Mahomes says Taylor Swift draws up football plays.
CLIP URL: morningsidekick(dot)com/prep/wp-content/uploads/PatrickMahomes-TaylorSwift(dot)mp3

CHESTNUT BEATS KOBAYASHI AT HOT DOG EATING

Joey Chestnut defeated Takeru Kobayashi in a one-on-one hot dog eating contest Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas. In 10 minutes, Chestnut consumed 83 dogs — beating his world record of 76 in 2022 — to Kobayashi’s 66. The last time they met was in the 2009 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, when Chestnut beat Kobayashi after a five-dog sudden death. Chestnut said after this new contest: “I’ve been trying to hit 80 hot dogs for years. Without Kobayashi, I was never able to do it. He drives me. We weren’t always nice to each other, but I love the way we push each other to be our best.”
* Do you really, though? I mean, the gluttony. Come on. Your best?
* So Kobayashi bit off more than he could chew.
* The winner got, of course, a case of hot dogs. The loser got two cases.
* There was more wiener grabbing than dachshund adoption day at the animal shelter.
* Las Vegas, keepin’ it classy.

IAN MCKELLAN: IF THEY WANT ME AS GANDALF, IT BETTER BE SOON

Sir Ian McKellen says he is willing to reprise his role as Gandalf in the “Lord of the Rings” franchise, but it better happen soon. McKellen fell in June during a play in London. He notes that, “When you get to my age you can’t always get up again.” The 85-year-old actor says, “I’ve just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved and they hope that I’ll be playing him. When? I don’t know. It’s not written yet. So they better be quick!”
* And THAT, my friends, is how you get movies made.
* Ian, Ian … this is where you sell them the rights to recreate you digitally for a couple million bucks.
* He started as Gandalf the Grey, died and came back as Gandalf the White, and next will be Gandalf the Mostly Sits in a Chair.
* At least he’s not in the Game of Thrones franchise. He’ll be long gone before those next books are written.

THE BUZZ

THE 2024 BULWER-LYTTON AWARDS

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest announced a winner for 2024. The contest challenges participants to write an atrocious opening sentence to the worst novel never written. The contest honors the novelist Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, the man who started a novel with “It was a dark and stormy night.” Here are some of the entries;
– First prize went to Lawrence Person of Austin, Texas, who wrote: She had a body that reached out and slapped my face like a five-pound ham-hock tossed from a speeding truck.”
– Winner, Detective Story Division: “She was poured into the red latex dress like Jello poured into a balloon.” (Jack Harnly, Sarasota, Florida)
– Special Mention: “Mrs. Higgins’ body was found in the pantry, bludgeoned with a potato ricer and lying atop a fifty-pound sack of Yukon golds, her favorite for making gnocchi.” (Joel Phillips, West Trenton, New Jersey)
– “It was a dark and stormy night, or more specifically, a Tuesday afternoon in Ireland.” (Owen Roherty, Colborne, Canada)
– “Sir Arthur Pendragon, High King of the Britons, son of King Uther Pendragon, nephew of King Aurelius Ambrosius, only slept with his sister once, but boy did it come back to bite him in the ass.” (Diana Murtaugh, Baltimore, Maryland)
* That there is plenty bad writin’.

LEGOS LAST 1,300 YEARS IN THE OCEAN

A study from the University of Plymouth published in the journal Environmental Pollution claims that LEGO bricks last for centuries in the ocean, contaminating the environment for generations upon generations of sea life. The colorful plastic blocks wash ashore on beaches regularly and now science tells us how long they can survive in Earth’s oceans. Based on the study of LEGO bricks that have already spent years in the ocean before ending up on beaches, the toys could last up to 1,300 years before fully breaking down.
* Where did they get this number? Did they find a 1,299-year-old LEGO brick and it was almost obliterated?
* LEGOs in the world’s oceans. How? Are thousands of people playing with LEGOs on cruise ships that sink?
* Nice to know the war on plastic straws is eliminating one-thousandth of one-percent as much plastic as LEGOs are dumping into the environment.
* The other danger of LEGOs in the ocean is the octopuses hate stepping on them.

U.S. NEWS

PRISON PICKLEBALL

Prisons have found a new cruel and unusual punishment for their inmates: pickleball. Several of Connecticut’s prisons have launched pickleball programs in recent years. Angelo Rossetti is a coach for the Pickleball for Incarcerated Communities League. The national organization is bringing the widely popular sport to America’s prisons to help rehabilitate inmates. Rossetti said inmates who were more accustomed to playing basketball and other sports were a little skeptical of pickleball, but they were good at it. Officials say they’ve seen more positive interactions between the pickleballing inmates, and that they have a healthier outlook on their future. They say the game is something that they value, that they look forward to, and it brings them happiness and motivates them to be better.
* Meanwhile, the other convicts are rioting over the constant paddle noise.
* Well, pickleball is probably more suited to prison than, say, fencing or skeet.
* Pickleball for Incarcerated Communities League … PICL. Cute.
* Some of the inmates are carving pickleball paddles out of soap.
* Yet another reason to make sure you never break the law.

AUDIO: COMPANY WILL REFLECT SUNLIGHT TO EARTH AT NIGHT

A California company called Reflect Orbital has begun accepting applications for anyone who wants to use a satellite with a mirror on it to reflect sunlight to a specific location on Earth after dark. The company’s founder, Ben Nowack, says, “Everybody’s installing so many solar panels everywhere. But sunlight turns off. It’s called nighttime. If you solve that fundamental problem, you fix solar everywhere.” The company’s orbital mirror is set to launch in 2025. You can “apply for sunlight” for the next few months. There are supposedly over 30,000 applications in already. For whatever it costs – no price is listed yet – you only get four minutes of light with a diameter of 5 kilometers (3 miles in diameter).
* That’s not long enough to use for a reading lamp before I go to bed.
* I knew there must be a way to boost global warming if we thought about it long enough.
* The average solar panel generates two-hundreths of a kilowatt-hour in four minutes, which is THREE-THOUSANDTHS OF A PENNY’S WORTH, so well done, Reflect Orbital!
* Die Another Day called; they want their plot back.
CLIP: A couple of minutes of Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night” to play under the story.
CLIP URL: morningsidekick(dot)com/prep/wp-content/uploads/SunglassesAtNight_edit-CoreyHart(dot)mp3

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

JAPANESE COMPANIES HELP YOU QUIT YOUR JOB

Japan, as you may know, has a very work-centric culture. Workers traditionally stick with one employer for decades, if not for a lifetime. That’s why it can be tricky if you want to quit – it can be seen as the ultimate form of disrespect. Some workers complain that bosses harass them if they try to resign. Some bosses have stopped by a worker’s apartment to ring their doorbell repeatedly, refusing to leave. Some bosses won’t let the worker quit even when they kneel down to the ground to bow. In some cases, bosses simply rip up resignation letters and harass employees to force them to stay. That’s why, In Japan, there has been a growth of agencies that will help you quit your job. For around $150, these firms will help you resign stress-free. They will tender your resignation, negotiate with the company and provide recommendations for lawyers if a legal dispute arises.
* In extreme cases, they will help you fake your death.
* The only downside is, the guy handing in your resignation gets the going away cake YOU were supposed to get.
* “Boss, I quit. I want to find another line of work.” “Kenji, you’re a sumo wrestler. What else are you gonna do?”
* Would your boss still want you to stay if you, like, stopped bathing?
* There’s a company here in the U.S. that’s helped me quit several jobs in the past. That company is Jack Daniels.

TRENDING

AMERICA’S FAVORITE FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS

USA Today did a reader’s poll of America’s favorite fast food restaurants. The Top Ten:
10. Arby’s
9. Zaxby’s
8. Popeye’s
7. Taco Bell
6. Captain D’s
5. Hardee’s
4. In-N-Out Burger
3. Chick-fil-A
2. KFC
1. Del Taco

ADELE TAKING A LONG, LONG BREAK

Adele announced over the weekend that she’s taking a long break from music after her Las Vegas residency ends. Speaking at a concert in Munich, Germany, the singer told the audience, “I have 10 shows to do, but after that I will not see you for an incredibly long time, and I will hold you dear in my heart.” Fans are speculating that Adele is taking time away from her career to get married to her fiancé Rich Paul, or possibly she is pregnant again.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (8/30 – 9/2) [4 Day Weekend]

1. Deadpool & Wolverine – $19.4 million
2. Alien: Romulus – $11.5 million
3. It Ends With Us – $9.5
4. Reagan – $9.2 million
5. Twisters – $8.7 million

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

Sept. 11, Wednesday – Patriot Day
Sept. 20, Friday – National POW/MIA Recognition Day (The third Friday of September)
Sept. 23, 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

BIRTHDAYS

Joel Johnstone (actor, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) … 46
Charlie Sheen (actor) … 59
Al Jardine (singer-guitarist with The Beach Boys) … 82

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

“I prefer natural, but I will take a good implant over a saggy natural.”

(A) Leonardo DiCaprio
(B) Cher
(C) Charlie Sheen

ANSWER: (C) Charlie Sheen

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1995 – The auction website eBay, (Electronic Bay), originally called “AuctionWeb,” was founded in California by French-born Iranian-American computer programmer Pierre Omidyar, as a hobby.
* He’s made slightly more money than I have with my hobby … napping.

1994 – China and Russia proclaimed an end to any lingering hostilities, pledging they would no longer target nuclear missiles or use force against each other.
* Then they went out for pizza and a Coke, and were later seen acting very friendly at the bowling alley.

1976 – The unmanned U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars to take the first close-up, color photographs of the planet’s surface.
* What did it accomplish? Uhm … well, from then on, Hollywood would get the look of Mars right in sci-fi movies.

1939 – Britain and France declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland.
* Remember when countries used to work together against the bad guys?

1783 – The Treaty of Paris between the United States and Great Britain officially ended the Revolutionary War.
* We could finally say goodbye to those unfair British taxes and start levying some of our own.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2009 – Friends and family of Michael Jackson paid their last respects to the singer at a funeral held at Glendale’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles. Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, Macaulay Culkin, Berry Gordy and Lisa Marie Presley were among the 200 invited guests. The singer’s family arrived in a motorcade of 31 vehicles, Jackson’s brothers – Randy, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon – acted as pallbearers carrying Jackson’s gold-plated coffin.

2009 – Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet world tour became the highest grossing ever for a solo artist, making $408 million. The 51-year-old singer had performed in 32 countries.

1999 – Bassist Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue was arrested at a show in Raleigh, N.C., on charges of inciting a riot at a Greensboro concert in October 1997. Sixx was charged with felony rioting and three misdemeanor charges of inciting a riot, assault, and disorderly conduct.

1991 – Ike Turner was released from prison having served 18 months of a four-year prison term (Ike had been arrested ten other times). In an interview with “Variety” he claimed to have spent over $11 million on cocaine.

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. 80% of workers in a recent survey said they do THIS while working. What is it?
Listen to music

2. 20% of workers in a recent survey said there is no downside to THIS. What is it?
Working from home

3. In a survey of Human Resources executives, 73% said THIS was the Number 1 cause of workplace unhappiness. What is it?
Bad bosses

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