WEDNESDAY, Nov 23 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

NOTE: MORNING SIDEKICK WILL BE OFF THURSDAY NOV. 24 & FRIDAY NOV. 25 FOR THE U.S. THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY.
WE WILL RETURN WITH PREP FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR WEDNESDAY, November 23, 2022
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: A & M AUTOLAND – Thanksgiving; THE WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY CLUSTERFLICKS

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.)

EAT A CRANBERRY DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“Eat a Cranberry Day is today. Cranberries are good for you. How many cranberries will you eat today? Native to North America, cranberries are grown in bogs, primarily in New England. When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, they found Native Americans harvesting them, and eating them. Native Americans also used them as dyes for clothing, and for medicinal purposes. Have a wonderful Eat a Cranberry Day!”

FIBONACCI DAY
The Time And Date website says this:
“Leonardo of Pisa, better known as Fibonacci, is responsible for the Fibonacci Sequence (or Fibonacci numbers) – a pattern of counting where each number is the sum of the previous two. As well as being prevalent in nature, this kind of system is used widely in computer data storage and processing, and Fibonacci Day recognizes the importance and value of Fibonacci’s contributions to mathematics. Born in 1170 in Pisa, Italy, Fibonacci was also responsible for making the Hindu-Arabic numerals popular in Europe. In ‘Liber Acaci’ he advocated the use of these numerals, explained the use of zero, provided ways to convert between currencies and different measurements, and described how to calculate interest. November 23 is celebrated as Fibonacci day because when the date is written in the mm/dd format (11/23), the digits in the date form a Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3.”

NATIONAL ESPRESSO DAY
The National Espresso Day website this:
“Espresso – that thick, bold Italian-style coffee – got its name thanks to the technology used to make the dark, rich brew, which is ‘pressed out’ and tailor made ‘pronto’ for its consumer. Espresso, which is also the base ingredient for other popular coffee beverages such as cappuccino, café latte and macchiato, has come a long way since its invention in Italy sometime around the 1900s. So let’s toast the rise of this complex and concentrated concoction with – what else? – a shot of espresso as we mark National Espresso Day.”

November is:

Adopt a Senior Pet Month
Great American Smoke Out Month
National Adoption Month
National Military Family Month
National Native American Heritage Month
Raisin Bread Month
Stamp Collecting Month
Vegan Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

WHAT TO WATCH – New and Returning Shows and Movies
Premiering Thursday through Sunday

THURSDAY, Nov 24

“Good Rivals”
Amazon Prime Video – New Docuseries
Synopsis: Investigates the social and political roots of the rivalry between the Mexican and American international soccer teams, from Mexico’s historic domination of the game to Donald Trump’s election in 2016.

“Love, Lizzo”
HBO Max – New Documentary
Synopsis: This intimate documentary allows the multi-platinum artist to get candid about body positivity, self-love, and recognizing Black women for their contributions.

“Criminal Minds: Evolution”
Paramount+ – New Series
Synopsis: The FBI’s elite team of criminal profilers faces their greatest threat, a UnSub who used the pandemic to build a network of serial killers. As the world opens back up the network goes operational and the team must hunt down one murderer at a time.

FRIDAY, Nov 25

“Fantasy Football”
Paramount+ – New Movie
Synopsis: A daughter discovers she can magically control the performance of her football-playing father through her gaming console.

Season Premiere:
HBO – “We’re Here”

SATURDAY, Nov 26

“Soul Train Awards”
BET – Special

“AVATAR” SEQUEL NEEDS TO EARN $2 BILLION TO BE PROFITABLE

James Cameron says his upcoming sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” will need to be “the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history to break even.” Reports have claimed the production budget alone was in the $250 million range, but director James Cameron hasn’t quoted an actual number yet. But if it were to be in the top five highest grossing movies, here is where it would stand. These are worldwide grosses: The original 2009 “Avatar” ranks at the top with $2.9 billion. Disney’s “Avengers: Endgame” is in second position with $2.7 billion, while Cameron’s “Titanic” remains in the third slot with $2.1 billion. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” earned $2.07 billion) and “Avengers: Infinity War” earned $2.05 billion.
* Too big to fail. The government will be sending us all 11 dollars in the mail to go see this movie.
* So far, the trailer is just two minutes of big blue sea monkeys riding around on flying dragons. Not sure if I can sit through another three hours of that.
* As the internet points out, name one quotable line from Avatar. Show me one meme, one frame from Avatar. Where are the kids in Avatar costumes at Halloween? Where’s Avatar on Ice?
* They could push this over the top with merchandising – but where’s Avatar’s Baby Yoda?

THE BUZZ

BIGGEST FAST FOOD FLOPS OF 2022

Fast food chains have to keep coming up with ways to get you to come back in. So, every year, they come out with new menu items. Sometimes they work, often they don’t. According to The Takeout website, here are The 10 Biggest Fast Food Flops of 2022
1. Wendy’s Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich (and Biscuit). According to one review, it was just too salty. “No amount of honey would be enough to rein in the saltiness of this thing.”
2. Dairy Queen’s Stackburgers. The problem: “Pale beef with a strange, slightly springy texture. There’s no flavor to the meat itself; it contains hardly any of the savory qualities you’d normally find in a beef burger. Particularly heinous is the cheese on each burger, which turned into a sweaty, chewy slice of dairy.”
3. Panera’s Chicken Sandwiches. “The ingredients are a bunch of items that sound like they would pair well together—a chicken filet with a garlic aioli made out of white wine, garlic, “secret” spices, and extra virgin olive oil, topped with parmesan crisps and leafy greens—but actually don’t combine at all.”
4. Papa Johns’ Epic Pepperoni-Stuffed Crust Pizza. “When you get to that crust stuffed with cheese and meat, the whole thing ends up being extraordinarily heavy, so much so that working through a slice is kind of a chore.”
5. Burger King’s Cheesy Breakfast Melts. “They fail on execution—the bread needs to be toasted for it to succeed. But mostly these are just boring sandwiches with nothing special to offer.”
6. Boston Market’s Rotisserie Chicken Nuggets. “Literally just chunks of chicken breast cut up into uneven pieces, seasoned, and slapped onto a tray. They’re salty, dry, stringy, and bland.”
7. Hart House. An attempt at a restaurant with lab-grown meat. “Eating it was a bad time. Biting into Hart House nuggets evoked a wet sponge dropped into some loamy soil.”
8. Chipotle’s Garlic Guajillo Steak. “The chunks of meat each had a different texture. And there was little taste of the garlic or the guajillo—the flavor was beef, mostly plain.”
9. Jimmy John’s All-American Beef Crunch. “A roast beef sandwich with American cheese, thousand island dressing, pickles, lettuce, fresh onion, and crispy fried onion strings. These things work on a burger, but not a roast beef sandwich.”
10. Wendy’s Pretzel Bacon Pub Burger. “Most of the ingredients get lost in beer cheese, which is more thick and starchy than it is fatty and cheesy. It tastes mostly of thickening agents.”
* Mmm… it’s like eating a hardening artery.
* And who doesn’t go to a fast food restaurant to try new things?
* They forgot McDonald’s McLiver and Onions Loaded Bagel.
* The reviewer should be commended for actually saying something other than “it stinks.”
* Now I need a PB&J just to get these horrible descriptions out of my head.

U.S. NEWS

MAN DEMANDS FREE FOOD, THREATENS STAFF WITH PLIERS

Last Friday in Tampa, Florida, a man threatened Burger King employees with a pair of pliers and demanded free food. Hubert Credit Jr., 50, entered the fast-food restaurant shortly after 5:30 p.m. and began stating he wanted free food. When the workers refused, Credit pulled a pair of pliers from his pocket and threatened them. A restaurant manager asked a customer in the drive-through lane to call 911. In the meantime, the manager gave Mr. Credit, Jr. free food. Responding officers found him eating the food inside a stall in the men’s bathroom. He was arrested without incident.
* No time to bolt. The coppers dropped the hammer on him. They did their level best to wrench the pliers from him. Plane-ly, the jig was up. They nailed this nut. This, according to one witness who sawzall. Now he’s screwed.
* You know what the Pliers Man was doing in the men’s room? Peen.
* How do you threaten someone with pliers? “The yanks are coming!”?
* “Give me free food, or I swear I’ll tighten every loose nut in the place!”
* One thing’s for sure – he’s not the sharpest tool in the box.
* Looks like Mr. Credit is going pay for his crime. Not now, but at a later date.

WOMAN SUING KRAFT MAC & CHEESE OVER PREP TIME

A Florida woman named Amanda Ramirez is attempting to sue Kraft Heinz Foods Company of misleading consumers in Florida, and 10 other states, over the time it would take them to make one serving of Velveeta Shells & Cheese. According to the package, the product can be “READY IN 3 1/2 MINUTES.” But according to Ramirez, this is a lie. Because the instructions on the back of the package explain that:
– First, consumers must “REMOVE lid and Cheese Sauce Pouch.”
– Next, they must “ADD water to fill line in cup. STIR.”
– Third, “MICROWAVE, uncovered, on HIGH 3-1/2 min. DO NOT DRAIN.”
– Finally, they should “STIR IN contents of cheese sauce pouch. CHEESE SAUCE WILL THICKEN UPON STANDING.”
So, the label says the product will be “ready in 3 1/2 minutes,” but you’ve got all that other stuff to do which will take longer than 3 1/2 minutes. The lawsuit claims that consumers are misled to expect the product will be ready for consumption in a shorter amount of time than it really takes to prepare. It’s not entirely clear what Ms. Ramirez expects by way of a remedy to the problem.
* If you’re eating Velveeta Shells & Cheese, you’re definitely not someone who likes to spend time in the kitchen.
* Let me guess – Ms. Ramirez’s real first name is Karen?
* Maybe she should stop buying it. I can think of a few million people in Ukraine who would be happy to have Ms. Ramirez’s Velveeta Shells and Cheese.
* I’ll bet the judge can throw out this lawsuit in less than 3 1/2 minutes.
* Let’s hope she never buys Minute Rice.

CASKET MAKER OFFERS $50 OFF BLACK FRIDAY SAVINGS

While you’re shopping this weekend, why not look at coffins? A casket maker in Boston, Massachusetts is offering a Black Friday bargain of $50 off the cost of their coffins. Joshua Siegal runs Titan Casket, an online coffin seller. While most large manufacturers only sell caskets to funeral homes, with the products marked up as much as 300%, Siegal’s prices range from $500 for a biodegradable cardboard box to $4,000 for a casket made from steel with decorative finishes. Do they work? One of Titan’s caskets appeared in a Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” video, during a scene at Swift’s fictional funeral in which she cracks open the top of a casket and peers out.
* So – the lids work, anyway.
* You can get a deal on one of these caskets, or join the crazy crowd stampede at Walmart. Either way, it’s your funeral.
* Buy now, use it as a Halloween yard decoration until you need it.
* $50 off a $4,000 casket. A discount of 1.25%! Thanks, Titan Casket!
* Remember, if you’re ordering online, make sure to give them your correct height. Bad things happen if your coffin is too short.

ALMANACNOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

TOMORROW – Thanksgiving
Dec. 21, Wednesday – Winter begins, winter solstice occurs at 4:48 p.m. EST
Dec. 25, Sunday – Christmas
Dec. 31, Saturday – New Year’s Eve
Jan. 1, Sunday – New Year’s Day

BIRTHDAYS

Miley Cyrus (singer, songwriter, actress) … 30
Lucas Grabeel (actor, “Switched at Birth”) … 38
Page Kennedy (actor, “Rush Hour,” “Backstrom,” “Desperate Housewives”) … 46
Robin Roberts (TV host, “Good Morning America”) … 62
Bruce Hornsby (rock singer, musician) … 68

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

“Life is all about having a good time.”

(A) Dr. Anthony Faucci
(B) Pope Francis
(C) Miley Cyrus

ANSWER: (C) Miley Cyrus

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

COVID-19 in History:
2020 – AstraZeneca became the third drugmaker to report an effective vaccine for COVID-19 (62% or 90% effective depending on how it is given). However it was not been approved for use in the U.S. due to sloppy and contradictory testing procedures.

2021 – A manuscript of Albert Einstein’s early work on the theory of relativity, called “one of the most important scientific documents of the 20th century,” sells at auction for $13 million.
* That’s a lot of money … relatively speaking.

2000 – In a setback for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, the Florida Supreme Court refused to order Miami-Dade County to resume counting ballots by hand.
* Well, yeah – Didn’t he realize what that would have cost in overtime?

1945 – Most U.S. wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ended.
* And our long road forward to national obesity began.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2019 – Accounts showed that the Guns N’ Roses “Not In This Lifetime” tour had raked in more than half a billion dollars during it’s three-year run grossing $584.2 million. The tour, which kicked off in 2016, sold 5,371,891 tickets, making it the third highest-grossing tour, according to Billboard Boxscore.

2008 – 15 years after their last album, Guns N’ Roses released “Chinese Democracy” in the U.S., exclusively via the electronics retailer Best Buy. Nine years previously, Geffen Records had reportedly paid Axl Rose $1 million to finish the album, with a further $1 million if he handed it in to them by March 1, 1999.

1976 – Jerry Lee Lewis was arrested after brandishing a pistol outside Elvis Presley’s Graceland’s home in Memphis, demanding to see Elvis.

1962 – The Beatles auditioned for a possible appearance on BBC television. After the audition, the BBC passed.

1889 – The jukebox made its debut, at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.

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. The day after Thanksgiving is the second-busiest day of the year for urgent care clinics. 15% of people are there because of THIS. What is it?
Injuries from playing football

2. The day after Thanksgiving is the second-busiest day of the year for urgent care clinics. On this day these clinics see a 60% spike in THIS particular injury. What is it?
Cuts

3. According to a survey by the Pepperidge Farm Corporation, of those people who will cook the Thanksgiving meal, 50% will do THIS. What is it?
They will enjoy doing it

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