WEDNESDAY, Jan 4 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR WEDNESDAY, January 4, 2023
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: A & M AUTOLAND – Warehouse Sale

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.)

NATIONAL SPAGHETTI DAY

POP MUSIC CHART DAY – The first pop music chart was compiled by the American magazine “Billboard” on this day in 1936.

TOM THUMB DAY
Birthday of Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883), better known by his stage name “General Tom Thumb.” Stratton was a little person who achieved great fame and wealth as a performer under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum.

TRIVIA DAY

WORLD BRAILLE DAY

WORLD HYPNOTISM DAY

January is:

Adopt a Rescued Bird Month
Be Kind to Food Servers Month
Family Fit Lifestyle Month
Financial Wellness Month
Get Organized Month
National Candy Month
National Clean Up Your Computer Month
National Hobby Month
National Skating Month
National Train Your Dog Month
Walk Your Pet Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

ROMEO & JULIET SUE OVER NUDITY

Ask any person who was a high school student in the late 1960’s-early 70’s what they most remember about being dragged on a class trip to see the 1968 movie “Romeo and Juliet” starring Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, and they will say – guarantee it – they will say they most remember the flash of Juliet’s breasts and Romeo’s bare butt. Now, 55 years later, the two actors have filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures alleging sexual exploitation of a minor. Hussey was 15 and Whiting was 16 at the time. Hussey and Whiting claim that the director Franco Zeffirelli assured them there would be no nudity in the film and they would use skin-colored undergarments. However, during the last days of filming, Zeffirelli allegedly encouraged them to perform the bedroom scene nude or “the Picture would fail,” according to the lawsuit. Zeffirelli allegedly filmed Hussey and Whiting naked without their knowledge, misrepresenting where the camera would be positioned. Zeffirelli died in 2019 at age of 96. The complaint cites both actors experienced mental anguish and emotional distress over the decades. Both claim they also have lost out on job opportunities. The two are said to be suing for around $500 million.
* Yes, if there’s one thing Hollywood won’t tolerate, it’s actors who take their clothes off.
* In the movie, you could see his pentameter and her couplets.
* Geeze, you can see 10 times more skin in a typical Miley Cyrus music video.
* 58 years ago! Why sue now, what’s the rush?
* I don’t know. If the naked baby on the cover of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album didn’t get a penny, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

THE BUZZ

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

According to a poll of 2,000 adults from Noom, a psychology-backed behavior change program (* which you can plainly tell from their name), the average person has up to 11 negative thoughts a day – including “I’m not good enough,” “I’m overweight,” and “I’m not good looking.”
– 34 percent feel they are letting themselves down.
– 32 percent worry more about disappointing others.
– 37 percent feeling like they are their own worst enemy.
– The best way to overcome negative thoughts: maintain a busy lifestyle, keep giving yourself positive affirmations, and practice mindfulness (observing your own thoughts and feelings without judging them).
* I find being distracted by a donut works wonders.
* You can triple those numbers by asking people how many negative thoughts they have about OTHERS.
* I actually AM my own worst enemy, and I swear I’m gonna get that guy!
* It’s always good to compare your situation to others. I bet no one listening right now has run over themselves with their own snowplow, so that’s a positive.

WEIRD SMELLS PEOPLE LIKE

Reddit asked: “What’s a weird smell you’re willing to admit you like?” Some of the responses:
– “The ‘old book’ smell.”
– “New book pages.”
– “That odor you get when you enter a hotel with a pool.”
– “Tarmac. And when it rains on tarmac.”
– “The vacuum cleaner smell, you know when the bag needs to be changed”
– “The smell of beach balls, clear umbrellas, swim floaties, inflatable pools, whatever that plastic is.”
– “I would purposely go into Woolworths as a child, just to smell the raincoats.”
– “The smell in art supply stores, which I’m sure is just a combination of various chemicals.”
– “Are armpits weird?”
– “Fresh tennis balls.”
– “Fog from fog machines.”
– “Dirt.”
– “My old shed. Loved that shed. Really smelled of shed, and sheddy things.”
– “Fireworks smoke.”
– “Aviation fuel. Jet exhaust is even better.”
– “Skunk smell doesn’t bother me.”
– “My cat’s breath. It smells like sandpaper kisses.”
– “My dog’s paws.”
* Oh, I’m sorry – this is a list of fetishes.
* Wow. Nobody mentioned crisp new $100 bills.
* Old book smell? New book pages? Are that many people reading actual books?
* Yeah, I just took a sniff of my Kindle. Nothing there at all.
* Folks, if you smell aviation fuel, run away as fast as you can.
* I think it’s great that so many of these things are smells of things that are poisoning the earth.
* PHONE TOPIC: So? What’s the weird smell that you like?

U.S. NEWS

BURGLARS CALL 911 FOR HELP IN MOVING THE STUFF THEY WERE STEALING

Two people in Poinciana, Florida were arrested after they made a 911 call to get help with moving stuff from the home they were burglarizing. Deputies responded to a home Saturday after a 911 call was made but nobody spoke. At the home, the deputies concluded that nobody lived there, but they found a man and a woman inside. Deputies recognized the man as a burglar at a Dollar General store where several items were stolen earlier in the day. The woman told them that she had called 911 to see if law enforcement would help them move things from the house they were burglarizing. They also wanted to get a ride to the airport so they could spend the weekend in New York.
* They had an unoccupied apartment all picked out and everything.
* And they even had tickets to “Hamilton.”
* Sounds like they figured out the basic flaw in their plan to get rich by stealing from a Dollar General.
* “But officers, we’re not gonna be able to fit all this stuff in the back of that one cruiser.”
* They’re either from a parallel universe where cops help burglars, or they’re mindbogglingly stupid. And they’re not smart enough to have crossed over from another universe.
* “Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Dumbness.”

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NO BANK ROBBERIES IN DENMARK

For a number of years, Denmark has been working to become a cashless country. All transactions are now done by credit card or smart-phones. As a result, the country just recorded its first year of zero bank robberies in 2022. In fact, in 2021, Denmark only had one bank robbery. That’s down from 222 just two decades ago. Currently, only about 20 bank branches across Denmark have any cash on hand, according to Finance Denmark. ATM robberies have also come down to zero due to better surveillance and technical protection.
* Sure, white-collar embezzlement is up 4,000 percent, but hey – no bank robberies.
* It sounds like an impressive accomplishment, ’til you remember that the entire country of Denmark is two-thirds the size of West Virginia.
* We have over 470,000 ATMs. Denmark has about 2,000. Why am I even reading this story?
* This has negatively affected a lot of other businesses as well: the alarm business, the cheap ball-point pen industry, Dum-Dum lollipops…
* So if a guy’s standing on a corner playing a violin, what do you throw in his hat? IOU’s? Gift cards?

TRENDING

JEREMY RENNER TUESDAY EVENING UPDATE

(Here is the latest on Jeremy Renner, as of Tuesday evening, 1/3/23. Please check your news sources Wednesdaymorning to see if it has been updated further.)
Jeremy Renner shared a photograph of his badly bruised face from his hospital bed Tuesday evening, following surgery from an accident where he was run over by his own snowplow accident Sunday morning. He captioned the picture, “Thank you all for your kind words. Im too messed up now to type. But I send love to you all.” In the photo, he could be seen wearing a breathing tube and hospital gown in the selfie taken from the intensive care unit. The left side of his face appeared scratched up and bruised. The actor’s spokesperson said he was recovering on Tuesday after undergoing surgery for “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries.”

BANISHED WORDS

Continuing its annual tradition of “Hey – look at me! LOOK at me!!,” Lake Superior State University has announced its tongue-in-cheek collection of 10 words or expressions that they feel should be banished from the English language this year:
– Gaslighting
– Inflection point
– GOAT
– Irregardless
– Moving forward
– Absolutely
– Amazing
– Quiet quit
– Does that make sense?
– It is what it is

SHAY MOONEY LOSES 50 POUNDS

Country singer Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay posted an Instagram to show his weight loss – side-by-side shirtless photos of himself taken six months apart. He’s dropped over 50 pounds. His secret: “Consistency. I changed my entire world in 6 months. No gimmicks or fads. Just consistency,” he wrote beneath the photo. “Eating clean, not drinking alcohol and walking 7 miles a day. And some weights. That’s it!” Referring to the two photos, he says, “If that tired guy on the left can do it so can you.”

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

January 16, Monday – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 22, Sunday – Chinese New Year (The Year of the Rabbit)
January 27, Friday – Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day (UN)
February 2, Thursday – Groundhog Day
February 12, Sunday – Lincoln’s Birthday
February 14, Tuesday – Valentine’s Day
February 20, Monday – Presidents Day / Washington’s Birthday
February 21, Tuesday – Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
March 12, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Begins
March 17, Friday – St. Patrick’s Day
March 20, Sunday – Spring begins, Spring Equinox is 5:24 p.m. EDT
March 21, Monday – First full day of Spring

BIRTHDAYS

D’Arcy Carden (actress, “The Good Place”) … 43
Deana Carter (country music artist) … 57
Dave Foley (actor, “Dr. Ken,” “Hot in Cleveland,” “Newsradio,” “Kids In The Hall”) … 60
Michael Stipe (lead singer with REM) … 63
Matt Frewer (actor, “Orphan Black,” “Falling Skies,” “Eureka,” “Max Headroom”) … 65
Patty Loveless (country singer) … 66

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

“I’m just not that fascinating a person.”

(A) Meghan Markle
(B) Kim Kardashian
(C) Michael Stipe

ANSWER: (C) Michael Stipe

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2010 – Dubai opened the world’s tallest skyscraper, the 2,717-foot gleaming glass-and-metal tower Burj Khalifa.
* I say put in a bungee jump ride.

1887 – Thomas Stevens became the first man to bicycle around the world, from San Francisco to San Francisco.
* He nearly drowned!

1885 – The first successful operation to remove a person’s appendix was carried out in Iowa.
* The doctors went on to successfully removed his wallet.

1863 – 4-wheeled roller skates were patented by James Plimpton of NY.
* Giving us roller-hockey, roller derby, and, for a brief, sad period … roller disco.

1790 – George Washington delivered America’s first State Of The Union Address.
* And everyone agreed it was the best State of the Union Address they’d ever heard.

1493 – Columbus left the New World to return from his first voyage.
* Main reason: no decent hotel rooms in the New World.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2020 – Miley Cyrus reached a settlement in the $300 million copyright infringement lawsuit that accused the singer of stealing her 2013 hit “We Can’t Stop.” The lawsuit, filed in 2018, was made by Jamaican songwriter Michael May, who alleged that “We Can’t Stop” replicated his 1988 track “We Run Things.”

2008 – At the height of her cuckoo-period, Britney Spears was carried out of her home on a stretcher and taken into custody after police were called in a dispute involving her children. Police were called to Spears’ home over a family custodial dispute. After nearly three hours, Spears handed over her children, two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James, to her ex-husband Kevin Federline.

2004 – Britney Spears had her surprise marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander annulled less than 55 hours after tying the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.

2000 – Spice Girl Melanie “Mel G” Gulzar split with her husband of 15 months. In a statement, the singer said she intended to “remain good friends” with husband Jimmy Gulzar, whom she met on the Spice Girls’ 1998 tour.

1999 – Ol’ Dirty Bastard, the Wu-Tang Clan rapper whose real name was Russell Tyrone Jones, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on three felony counts of terrorist threats stemming from a Sept. 16 battle with bouncers at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. Jones died on November 13, 2004 of a drug overdose.

1979 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Too Much Heaven” by The Bee Gees. The group donated all proceeds from sales of the single to UNICEF, the United Nations agency dedicated to helping the world’s children.

1967 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees. At seven weeks, it became the longest-running No. 1 song since the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

1965 – Leo Fender sold the Fender Guitar company for $13 million.

1954 – Elvis Presley recorded a 10-minute demo in Nashville.

1950 – RCA Victor announced they would manufacture LP records.

1936 – The first pop music chart was compiled by the American magazine “Billboard.”

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 recent survey, 7% of people said they haven’t done THIS in more than 10 years. What is it?
Gone to the dentist

2. 20% of people say they have never done THIS. What is it?
Bought ice cream from an ice cream truck

3. In a recent survey, 3% of people said they haven’t done THIS in a year. What is it?
Used a pen or pencil

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