WEDNESDAY, Apr 23 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR WEDNESDAY, April 23, 2025
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: A & M AUTOLAND – Moonlight Madness

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.)

ARMY RESERVE BIRTHDAY
The National Today website says this:
“On April 23, 1908, Congress organized a group of 160 doctors to form the Medical Reserve Corps, to equip the nation with a team of professionally trained medical practitioners in times of national emergencies. A month later, President Theodore Roosevelt, one of the greatest citizen-soldiers of the Army Reserve, signed the bill to be law. That reserve force today is known as the U.S. Army Reserve. The Army Reserve has played a very important role during both World Wars, the Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, Persian Gulf War, and during conflicts with the Middle East concerning 9/11.”

GERMAN BEER DAY
From the Days of the Year website:
On this day in 1516, the German state of Bavaria created the Reinheitsgebot, the ‘purity law’ that decreed how beer had to be brewed and sold in the state. The regulation demanded purity, with only water, barley and hops being permitted in the beverage, and aimed to both protect consumers from poor quality, overly priced beer and ensure that there was enough wheat and rye for bread-making. The law gradually spread throughout the rest of Germany and was adhered to nationwide by 1906. The Reinheitsgebot is the oldest consumer protection regulation still in use, while Germany is home to the oldest brewery in the world.

NATIONAL CHERRY CHEESECAKE DAY

NATIONAL PICNIC DAY

NATIONAL LOVER’S DAY
A day to celebrate your significant other and let them know how much they mean to you.

NATIONAL ZUCCHINI BREAD DAY

WORLD TABLE TENNIS DAY
Observed on the birthday of Ivor Montagu, the first president of ITTF, the International Table Tennis Federation.

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

THE BUZZTEEN SURVEY: EVERYBODY ELSE SPENDS TOO MUCH TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

A new Pew Survey of US teens ages 13 to 17 finds that almost half of them think social media is bad for their mental health:
– 45% admit they spend too much time on social media.
– 48% said they think social media has a “mostly negative” effect on people their age. Just 11% of teens today say they think social media is “mostly positive” for their peers.
– But just 14% of teens say social media has a mostly negative impact on themselves.
– Girls (48%) are more likely to lie– er, say they’ve cut back on social media use, than boys (40%).
* See? Problem solves itself, thanks to self-awareness and teenagers’ famous self-control and will power.
* Only 45% said they spend too much time on social media. That number would be higher, but the kids who are REALLY hooked wouldn’t sign out long enough to take the survey.
* This is sad because before social media, the years from 13 to 17 were so happy and trouble-free.

KIDS TODAY WILL NEVER KNOW THESE EXPERIENCES

Reddit asked, “What’s something from your childhood that kids today will never experience?” Some of the responses:
– “Knowing where your friends were by riding around and looking for the house with all the bikes in the yard.”
– “Waking up early like 6:30AM on a Saturday morning to watch back to back TV cartoons eating cereal like Cocoa Pebbles.”
– “Going with your parents on a Friday/Saturday night to rent a movie at Blockbuster.”
– “Sitting on phone books as a booster seat.”
– “Playing hide-and-seek outside after dark.”
– “A family member yelling, ‘ITS ONNNNNNN,’ while you’re in the kitchen getting snacks during a commercial.”
– “Being able to make prank phone calls and hang up because no one knew your phone number.”
– “The vibes you’d get at the mall around Christmas.”
– “All day at the roller rink.”
– “Standing in line at GameStop for the new Call of Duty to come out.”
– “Leaving the house for hours and being completely unreachable and unlocatable.”
* I think my mom submitted that last one.
* PHONE TOPIC: Are any of these familiar to you? Got anything to add?

U.S. NEWS

THE HERO OF THE BOSTON MARATHON

A runner in Tuesday’s Boston Marathon is getting heaps of praise on the internet after helping a fellow marathoner who had collapsed just a short distance from the finish line. Brazilian runner Pedro Arieta, 34, was heading down Boylston Street with the finish line in sight. He was aiming for a personal goal of 2:40:00. But then he saw a runner down: Shawn Goodwin, 35, had collapsed in the street, his legs apparently cramping or failing, and he couldn’t stand up. Arieta stopped to help Mr. Goodwin to his feet – it took almost a minute – and walked him to the finish line as other runners streamed past. Several spectators posted videos of Arieta’s act of kindness, which quickly amassed millions of views on social media. Afterwards, Arieta wrote, “It was impossible to run past someone who needed help reaching their dream finish line and not help them complete the Boston Marathon.”
* Unless you’re an American, ’cause, y’know, our philosophy is Look Out for Number One.
* When Joey Chestnut’s in a hot dog eating contest and the guy next to him can’t choke down another bite, does Joey start helping out by chowing down on the other guy’s doggies?
* Then the guy couldn’t get his car to start, and Mr. Arieta gave him a jump.
* And then he was deported to an El Salvador prison. Oh well.

COSMIC SMILEY FACE COMING TO THE SKY THIS FRIDAY

A crescent moon will align with planets Venus and Saturn this Friday to form a smiley face in the sky. Venus and Saturn will be the eyes, and the crescent moon below them will be the mouth. The smiley face will be visible in the early hours of Friday, April 25, just before dawn at approximately 5:30 a.m. in the eastern sky.
* Great. Even the sky is happier than I am.
* Like every cosmic occurrence, this one will be able to be seen everywhere, except wherever it is you’ll be standing.
* Last time I tried looking at something like this, all I saw was a poop emoji.
* Get back to me when there’s going to be something in the sky at a reasonable hour, like 8:30 pm.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

DEAD POPE HIT WITH MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER

Did you know: Certain rites and rituals follow the death of a Pope, including this weird one: tapping his forehead with a silver hammer. In the chain of command at the Vatican, there is a position called the camerlengo. A camerlengo is a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church who serves as the temporary administrator of the Vatican during a period when there is no Pope. When a pope dies, it is the camerlengo’s duty to perform the rite, administering three gentle taps on the pope’s forehead and calling him by his first name. It’s the traditional way of making sure a pope has died.
* What’s ironic is, it’s also the way they wake up the older popes in the morning: (bonk bonk) “Hey, you up? (bonk bonk) Breakfast!”
* A silver hammer because sticking smelling salts under the pope’s nose isn’t pompous enough.
* It’s important to be on good terms with your camerlengo when you’re pope, as long as he’s got that hammer in his pocket.
* Can the Vatican not afford a simple heart or respiratory monitor? Are they like the Amish – afraid of new technology?
* How did this not make it into any of the DaVinci Code movies?

ALMANACNOTABLE 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

Jesse Lee Soffer (actor, “Chicago P.D.”) … 41
John Oliver (actor, comedian, news commentary host: “Last Week Tonight”) … 48
John Cena (professional wrestler, actor, rapper) … 48
George Lopez (comedian, sitcom actor, talk show host) … 64
Valerie Bertinelli (actress) … 65
Joyce DeWitt (TV actress, “Three’s Company) … 76
Blair Brown (actress, “Orange Is The New Black”, “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”, “Fringe”) … 78
Lee Majors (TV actor, “The Six Million Dollar Man”) … 86

Today’s Birthdays grade: The claim to fame for everybody on today’s birthday list mostly involves TV – many of them having to do with TV from a while back … so nobody likely to have fans among younger people. Except John Cena – maybe? No giant names, no losers either. Can’t get very excited. Grade: C.

[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!

“Whether you like me or you don’t, I still dig showing up for work.”

(A) Vladimir Putin
(B) Kim Jong-Un
(C) John Cena

ANSWER: (C) John Cena

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2005 – YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded its first video.
* YouTube was briefly known as MyTube.

1992 – McDonald’s opened its first fast-food restaurant in China.
* “Yes, I WOULD like to super-size that, this has to feed my whole family … for a week.”

1985 – New Coke, which flopped, was announced.
* The fellow who came up with this brainstorm is still working on Madison Avenue – washing car windshields at stoplights.

1984 – The world’s first tigon was born in Paris. It was the offspring of a tiger and a lioness.
* Make that a very farsighted tiger.

1975 – The last president of South Vietnam, Nguyen Van Thieu, resigned, condemning the United States.
* You’re welcome.

1972 – Apollo 16 astronauts explored the Moon’s surface. It was the fourth moon landing.
* “Yep, it’s just a bunch of dust and rocks over here, too.”

1896 – The general public saw a motion picture for the first time when the ‘Vitascope’ system projected a film on a screen in a demonstration at New York City’s Koster & Bial Music Hall.
* “I say! Two pence for a large bucket of popcorn! It’s highway robbery!”

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2016 – Beyoncé released her sixth studio album, “Lemonade,” accompanied by a 65-minute film of the same title. The most acclaimed studio album of Beyoncé’s career to date, the album was nominated for nine Grammy Awards and was the best-selling album of 2016.

2008 – Amy Winehouse went out on a drink and drug-fueled spree and hit and headbutted two men.

2008 – Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora was sentenced to three years probation after admitting to driving under the influence of alcohol.

1995 – Peter Hodgson, from Liverpool, found a tape in his attic containing 16 of The Beatles’ earliest recordings made in 1959. The tape included “Hello Little Girl,” a Lennon-McCartney composition that the Beatles never released, and Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah, I Love Her So.” The sessions had been made on a reel-to-reel recorder that Hodgson’s father had lent to Paul McCartney.

1988 – Whitney Houston smashed a chart record held by The Beatles and The Bee Gees when “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” became her seventh consecutive U.S. No.1 hit.

1976 – Punk rock pioneers the Ramones released their self-titled debut on Sire Records. The album, which took seven days to make and cost $6,400, was met with critical acclaim and quickly became one of rock music’s most impactful albums, and has been cited by countless artists as an influence.

1975 – Badfinger’s Pete Ham committed suicide by hanging himself in his London garage.

1956 – Elvis Presley played Las Vegas for the first time. Reaction was poor, and he played only one week of a two-week engagement.

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. You’ll have a better-than-average survival rate following a heart attack if you have THIS. What is it?
A dog

2. Female dogs do THIS twice as much as male dogs. What is it?
Bite

3. 1 in 8 Americans say they have had a dog chew on THIS and ruin it. What is it?
Eyeglasses

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