WEDNESDAY, July 2 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR WEDNESDAY, July 2, 2025
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: A & M AUTOLAND – 4th of July

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.)

MADE IN THE USA DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“In 1989, Joel Joseph of the Made in the USA Foundation created Made in the USA Day. The objective of this holiday is to increase the sales of products made in America. And as a result, it increases American jobs. Furthermore, by purchasing American-made products, you’re helping to lower the trade balance with other nations. So, the holiday is a call to all American consumers to buy American goods and products. Joel Joseph chose July 2 as the date to celebrate this annual holiday because it is just before the Fourth of July. This is when American patriotism is at its highest point of the year.”

WORLD UFO DAY
The anniversary of the day SOMETHING crashed in Roswell, NM.

July is:

Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month
Air Conditioning Appreciation Month
Baked Bean Month
Cell Phone Courtesy Month
Family Reunion Month
International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month
National Blueberries Month
National Grilling Month
National Hot Dog Month
National Ice Cream Month
Melon Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

GAVIN ADCOCK SAYS BEYONCÉ AIN’T COUNTRY MUSIC

Country singer Gavin Adcock, recently a nominee for new male artist of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, stopped a concert and spoke out against Beyoncé‘s “Cowboy Carter,” saying “that [bleep] ain’t country music.” After complaining to his audience that “Cowboy Carter” was ahead of other records on the Apple Music country charts, he said, “You can tell her we’re coming for her ass. That [bleep] ain’t country music and it ain’t ever been country music and it ain’t gonna be country music.” Later, (* presumably after the alcohol wore off and his manager read him the riot act) Gavin posted a follow-up on social media walking things back a bit. He said, “When I was a little kid, my mama was blasting some Beyoncé in the car. I’ve heard a ton of Beyoncé songs and I actually remember her Super Bowl Halftime Show being pretty kick-ass back in the day. But I really don’t believe her album should be labeled as country music. It doesn’t sound country, it doesn’t feel country, and I just don’t think that people that have dedicated their whole lives to this genre and this lifestyle should have to compete or watch that album just stay at the top just because she’s Beyoncé.”
* He’s been in the music biz how long?
* I’m sure Post Malone and Lil Nas X feel the same way.
* Here’s what we’ll do: Pop music will take Beyoncé back if Country will take back Taylor Swift. It’s a fair trade.
* By the way, Adcock has a new album coming out in August called “My Own Worst Enemy.” And now we know why.

AUDIO: ROBERT DENIRO MEETS THE WIGGLES

Robert De Niro took his 2-year-old daughter, Gia, to The Wiggles concert on Saturday in Brooklyn, New York. De Niro, 81, has seven children, ranging in age from 2 to 53. The daddy/daughter duo got to go backstage and meet the Australian kiddie band, who sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” for her. De Niro sang along as Gia sat in his lap. The Wiggles later wrote on Instagram, “It was such a thrill to spend some time with the legendary Robert De Niro and his family before our concert here in New York City.”
* This is like when matter meets anti-matter.
* They got a little freaked out when DeNiro broke into: “Are you Wigglin’ at me? You Wigglin’ at me? I’m the only one here. You Wigglin’ at me???”
* And later, DeNiro took his 53-year-old kid to an estate lawyer to make some changes to his will, so it was a good family day for all.
* Let me guess, he wants to star in a film version of The Wiggles, call it “A Bunch Of Little Fockers.”
CLIP: The Wiggles “Hello” song from an actual recent Wiggles concert.
CLIP URL: morningsidekick(dot)com/prep/wp-content/uploads/WigglesHelloSong(dot)mp3

THE BUZZ

WACKY FIREWORK NAMES

Have you shopped for fireworks lately? They sure have some wacky names, huh? These are some of the creatively-named fireworks that you can find online at the various firework vendors on the internet:
(These are some we found new this year, 2025. )
– Wizard of Ahhhs
– Neighbor Hater
– Cat Scat Fever
– Whacky Tobacky
– Catvasion!
– Put It In Reverse
– Psycho Peacock
– Mummy Dust
– Holy Finale
(These are from a similar story couple of years ago.)
– Psycho-delic
– Doctor Boom
– Death Blossom
– Eternal Eruption
– Mount Magma
– Silent Insanity
– Badassical Blast
– Raging Rottweilers
– Aqua Boom
– Moonshine Mother
– Loud Cloud
– Moon Jellies
– Whistling Kitty Chaser
– Purple People Eater
– L’il Bubba
– Da L’il Yooper
– Medusa’s Rage
– Lawbreaker
– 177-Degree Sunburn
– Unicorn Puke
* There should be more fireworks named “That’s it?”
* I think a dozen of these were horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby.
* Others are Marvel superheroes. Remember when Psycho Peacock battled Aqua Boom in X-Men #116?
* Still others are rejected Ben & Jerry flavors.

CAR BRAND STUDY: BEST DRIVERS, WORST DRIVERS, DRUNKEST DRIVERS

LendingTree has analyzed insurance inquiries between January 1 and December 31 of 2024 to see which car brands have the best and worst drivers, highest accident rates, and the highest DUI rates. The results:
– The Safest Drivers (brands with the lowest driving incident reports in 2024):
#3: Cadillac
#2: Pontiac (And, yes, it was noted that the Pontiac brand has been dead for 15 years)
#1: Mercury
– The Worst Drivers (brands the most accidents and tickets per 1,000 drivers in 2024)
#3: Subaru
#2: Ram
#1: Tesla
– The Drunkest Drivers (brands with the most DUIs in 2024)
#3: Tesla drivers
#2: BMW drivers
#1: Pontiac drivers (Who are also the #2 SAFEST drivers. Nice analysis work, LendingTree!)

U.S. NEWS

SLOW SPEED CHASE LASTS 5 HOURS

Nashville police arrested a woman who led police on a slow-speed chase that lasted nearly five hours. It started around 3am on Tuesday (July 1), after she was found sleeping in a car. She nearly hit the two officers as she pulled away. Police pursued the vehicle. The driver, a convicted felon, out-smarted several attempts to box the car in, and was able to keep driving long after police popped all four of her tires with road spikes. She drove onto I-24. The chase was reaching speeds up to 8 miles an hour (not a typo). Patrol cars drove in front of and behind her, mirroring her swerves in an attempt to keep her car from passing. Finally, around 7:30am, cops were able to spin her car around and pin it in, and arrested the 28-year-old driver.
* She turned rush hour into slow hour.
* Five hours! Did they let her stop to buy gas mid-chase?
* Honestly, at 8 miles an hour, couldn’t somebody just walk up to the car and pull the keys out of the ignition?
* At 8 miles an hour, they could also have ticketed her for loitering.

FLORIDA SURFER HEADBUTTED BY FLYING SHARK

A surfer at New Smyrna Beach, Florida, was knocked off his board after a shark flew out of the water and hit him in the head. The encounter was caught on camera. Darren Kaye was surfing off the coast of an inlet northeast of Orlando that’s often teeming with spinner sharks, which aren’t known to be aggressive to humans and often jump out of the water when feeding. The shark smacked him in the head, knocking him off his board. Kaye said he got right back on the board and his pulse started racing and he paddled as fast as he could out of the way. After a break, he went right back to surfing the same beach the rest of the weekend, because the waves are good there.
* If sharks like it, it must be good for surfing. Great logic there. Sounds like the guy’s taken a few sharks to the head.
* It’s like a shark version of a torpedo: Sharkpedo.
* Still, it beats being speared by a swordfish.
* Scientists have a word for when sharks bump into humans. It’s called ‘tenderizing.’

SWAMP CROTCH SETS OFF TSA ALARMS AT AIRPORT

People on the internet are starting to share stories of a new irritation when traveling: being flagged at the TSA body scanner because your crotch is damp. To cite just one example, a woman on Reddit writes: “I flew for the first time in 15 years this week, and both airports flagged my crotch at the arms-up body scanner.” She said she was wearing bike shorts and normal underwear, and her private parts are neither pierced nor outfitted with medical devices. Her pockets were totally empty. She writes, “I’m wondering what did it.” The answer, which many people pointed out, was swamp crotch. It turns out the scanners often generate false alarms set off due to sweat in the clothing – it has to do with wave technology and how the waves bounce off water. The devices and screening algorithms are trained to recognize body composition, and any unexpected abnormalities, including excess sweat, could potentially prompt an alert.
* Either that, or the bored TSA agents like messing with people.
* Just my luck to be the next person to sit in that lady’s airplane seat.
* Like flying isn’t enough of a mental commotion, now I have to think about everyone’s moist crotch around me.
* So when it comes to crotches, it’s not the heat – it’s the humidity.

TRENDING

KATY PERRY HAS HER OWN PROP MALFUNCTION

Not to be outdone by Beyonce’s flying car concert mishap on Saturday, Katy Perry had one of her own during her concert in Australia. On Sunday night, Katy was performing in Adelaide and being lifted in a floating metal cage in the shape of a sphere when it malfunctioned, leaving her stuck in the air. The floating orb then tilted, and it appeared as though she was holding on to a bar above her head to avoid falling out of the ball and into the crowd. The music stopped and the lights went dark as stage crew hurried to the sphere and straightened it out.

NASA TO BROADCAST LAUNCHES, SPACEWALKS ON NETFLIX

NASA plans to move its own streaming service, which of course is called NASA+, over to Netflix. NASA TV features live-streamed programming of rocket liftoffs, spacewalks and live views of Earth from the International Space Station. Through Netflix, NASA+ could expand the space agency’s reach to a global audience of more than 700 million viewers. NASA+ will continue to be available for free through the space agency’s website and through the NASA app.

SEAN COMBS TRIAL: TUESDAY, JULY 1

Here is what happened at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex-and-drug trafficking trial on Tuesday:
– Throughout deliberations, the jury sent six notes out to the judge. Most of them requested transcripts of certain testimony. But…
– Note #6 said that they had reached a verdict on counts 2, 3, 4, 5, which are: Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; Transportation to Engage in Prostitution; Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion; and Transportation to Engage in Prostitution. But the note said they are unable to reach a verdict on the racketeering conspiracy count. The judge instructed the jury to continue deliberating. Then the jury went home.

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

July 4, Friday – U.S. Independence Day
Sept. 1, Monday – Labor Day
Sept. 11, Thursday – Patriot Day
Sept. 22, Monday – Fall begins (Autumn Equinox is 2:19 p.m. EDT)

BIRTHDAYS

Margot Robbie (actress, “Barbie,” Harley Quinn in D.C. Comics movies) … 35
Lindsay Lohan (actress) … 39
Ashley Tisdale (actress, “High School Musical” movies) … 40
Roy Bittan (keyboardist with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) … 76
Larry David (comedy writer, actor, co-creator of the TV series “Seinfeld”) … 78

Today’s Birthdays grade: Wow – the guy who helped create and write “Seinfeld” and then did even more seasons of his own show, and the star of a little 2023 movie about a doll. Any negative spin from Lindsay Lohan pales in comparison. 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!

“Anyone can be confident with a full head of hair. But a confident bald man – there’s your diamond in the rough.”

(A) William Shatner
(B) Ted Danson
(C) Larry David

ANSWER: (C) Larry David

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2015 – A settlement of $18.7 billion was announced, addressing all federal, state and local claims against the oil giant British Petroleum arising from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill from the explosion of the Deep Water Horizon oil rig.
* It was a gusher of cash!

2002 – American Steve Fossett became the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world as he returned to western Australia.
* This might have been significant if it had happened in, say, 1802.

2001 – Robert Tools received the world’s first self-contained artificial heart in Louisville, Ky. (He lived 151 days with the device.)
* And from such lowly beginnings, the Borg were born!

1984 – 35-year-old Karel Soucek of Hamilton, Ontario went over Niagara Falls in a standard 55-gallon barrel – the last person to do so. He survived with only minor scrapes.
* I wonder what he’s been doing to give his life meaning since then?

1982 – Using a lawn chair hoisted by 42 helium filled balloons, Larry Walters took off from San Pedro, California, rose to 16,000-feet and traveled some 15 miles before landing safely in Long Beach. He was fined $1,500 by the FAA for flying without a license.
* Don’t give Al Qaeda any ideas.

1979 – The Susan B. Anthony dollar was issued. It was 1st U.S. coin to honor a woman.
* People showed it so much respect they refused to get it dirty by using it.

1976 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.
* Obviously, they’ve never tried it.

1964 – U.S. president Johnson signed the “Civil Rights Act of 1964” into law. The act made it illegal in the U.S. to discriminate against others because of their race.
* Well, that solved that problem.

1947 – Something crashed near the city of Roswell, which some people think was a UFO.
* Really? Wow! Why doesn’t somebody do an investigation? I mean, this would make a great topic for a TV special.

1937 – American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart disappeared in the Central Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world at the equator.
* It’s kind of sad … but on the bright side, if she’d made it she’d be dead by now, anyway.

1857 – New York City’s first elevated railroad officially opened for business.
* Just for a change, people who took public transportation could look down on everybody else.

1776 – New Jersey gave all adults who could show a net worth of $50 the right to vote.
* Even back then the rich controlled politics.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2014 – Mötley Crüe began their Final Tour in Grand Rapids, MI. They were going to have a reunion tour in 2020 but due to COVID-19 it was pushed to 2022.

2005 – The original members of Pink Floyd performed at the Live 8 concerts in London. It was the first time the group had played together in more than 24 years.

2001 – Liverpool’s Speke Airport was renamed John Lennon Airport, after the late Beatles co-founder and famous Liverpool native.

1992 – Mick Jagger became a grandfather at age 48 when his daughter Jade gave birth to a baby girl.

1991 – Axl Rose of Guns ‘n’ Roses sparked a riot during a concert outside of St. Louis when he jumped off the stage and attacked a fan who was videotaping the concert. 60 people were hurt.

1971 – Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon played their first show together as Queen. The gig, at England’s Surrey College, launched their legendary 20-year career.

1956 – Elvis Presley recorded “Hound Dog”. It took him 31 takes before he was happy with it.

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. Only about 15% of married women say they regularly do THIS for their spouse. What is it?
Pick up the check at a restaurant

2. More than 30% of women say THIS food makes them think of their husbands? What is it?
Potatoes

3. More than 20% of women admit they’re more aroused by THIS than by their significant others. What is it?
New shoes

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