WEDNESDAY, Nov 24 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

NOTE: MORNING SIDEKICK WILL BE OFF THURSDAY NOV. 25 & FRIDAY NOV. 26 FOR THE U.S. THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY.
WE WILL RETURN WITH PREP FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR WEDNESDAY, November 24, 2021
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: FRIDAY CLUSTERFLICKS FOR 11/24; FARMER BOB’S ATOMIC TURKEYS; A & M AUTOLAND – Thanksgiving Dream; THE ONLY MORNING SHOW IN TOWN

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.)

EVOLUTION DAY / ALL OUR UNCLES ARE MONKEYS DAY
The Holiday Insights website and other sources say this:
“Today is the anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s book: ‘On the Origin of Species’ in 1859 – full title: ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.’ Including data from his research, correspondence, and experimentation, it is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology – the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. As far as humans are concerned, sequencing of the chimpanzee genome in 2005 showed that humans share about 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, making them our closest living relatives. It has since been determined that the ape species bonobos share about 98.7% of their DNA with humans. This day is also the anniversary of the discovery of ‘Lucy,’ the Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray in 1974, a significant find in the study of human evolution.”

NATIONAL SARDINES DAY
The Days Of The Year website and other sources say this:
“Sardines are several types of small, oily fish, related to herrings. While we might be most familiar with sardines packed in cans, some enjoy fresh sardines grilled. This small fish can also be pickled and smoked, too. When canned, they can be packed in water, olive, sunflower or soybean oil or tomato, chili or mustard sauce. Popular around the world, the health benefits of sardines include an abundance of vitamin B12 and omega fatty acids.”

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

NEW SHOW: GUY FIERI GIVING AWAY A RESTAURANT

Can’t get enough Guy Fieri? The man behind the never-ending Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and the always-on Guy’s Grocery Games has another new Food Network show – he’s giving away one of his restaurants. The last competitor standing on Guy’s Chance of a Lifetime, premiering January 2, walks away with their own franchise of Fieri’s “Chicken Guy” chain.
* Nothing like winning a prize that comes with a minimum 30 percent failure rate.
* So be prepared to win no sleep and a drain on your bank account for the rest of your life.
* If I know fast food, across the street and two doors down from the Chicken Guy store is a Chick-fil-A.
* This is perfect Food Network programming. Guy Fieri gives you a restaurant. Then Robert Irvine comes along with Restaurant: Impossible to tell you why you’re failing.
* The only one involved in this who’s gotten the Chance of a Lifetime is Guy Fieri.

PROFESSIONAL PILLOW FIGHTING COMING TO PAY-PER-VIEW

Get ready for Professional Pillow Fighting! Oh, yes, it’s a real thing. The Pillow Fight Championship is coming as a live, pay-per-view event in Florida on Jan. 29. Steve Williams, the man pushin’ the cushions, said PFC delivers all the drama of hand-to-hand combat without the gore of mixed martial arts. Imagine boxing, but instead of gloves each contestant is trying to hit the other with a pillow. “The fighters don’t like to get hurt, and there’s a lot of people who don’t want to see the blood. They want to see good competition, they just don’t want to see the violence. It’s serious. It’s hardcore swinging with specialized pillows.” You won’t see feathers flying around, he says.
(Note: You can YouTube this and see what it’s all about.)
* But I WANT to see feathers.
* Let me guess – this is targeted at the Snowflake generation?
* Sorry, but this sounds like a yawn.
* The best pillow fighters are the ones with lots of brothers and sisters. They had lots of training.
* One fighter got caught cheating. He snuck in a bolster from the sofa.
* It’s pay-per-view, so you don’t have to make a decision about buying it now. You can sleep on it.

THE BUZZ

WHAT YOUR DOG CAN AND CAN’T EAT ON THANKSGIVING

To keep your pets safe, here’s a list of Thanksgiving foods your dogs can and can’t have:
CAN HAVE:
– Apples (no core/seeds)
– Carrots
– Celery
– Cheese
– Corn (no cob)
– Green beans
– Pumpkin
– Quinoa
– Rice
– Sweet potatoes
– Turkey (no skin, fat, or bones)
* Because dogs love quinoa so much.
* This list says it’s okay to slip the awful green bean casserole under the table.
* So … how do you get the dogs to go back to their boring normal food the day after?

CAN’T HAVE:
– Canned cranberry
– Chocolate
– Garlic
– Grapes
– Ham
– Leeks
– Mashed potatoes
– Onions
– Raisins
– Raw dough
– Raw potatoes
– Pie filling
– Stuffing
* In the wild, did dog ancestors wait for grapes that fell on the ground to turn into raisins so they could eat ’em?
* Why are ham, leek and onion on the list? Ever smelled a ham, leek and onion dog fart?

THE COOLEST NEW TOY YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO BUY: MAGIC MIXIES

The hottest new toy of the season is something called Magic Mixies, and it’s pretty cool. But they’re already all off the shelves, so good luck finding one. They retail for about $69.99, but online resellers are selling them for upwards of $200. The Magic Mixie is a good-sized magical-looking plastic cauldron. Inside, it appears empty. First, you have to plug in and charge the pot for 90 minutes. Then, you follow the instructions: pour in some water, add some special powder (* which I’m SURE is not harmful) toss in a charm, throw in a special piece of paper on which you have written the name of the fluffy toy, then stir it with a magic wand. Then, the bottom of the cauldron starts to glow, real smoke starts to come out of the pot (* which I’m SURE is not harmful), and suddenly the whole pot jiggles all by itself, and when the smoke clears, inside the pot, there’s magically a little plush toy. So – all that for 70 bucks? Yes, and you can reset the pot to do the trick again and again. BUT – you have to buy refills! Anyway, good luck finding one now.
* So they took the concept of “Surprise Eggs” and added some Satanic trappings.
* Nah, you don’t refill it and do it again and again. You present your kid with their new plush toy then you sell the cauldron online for twice what you paid for it.
* Instead of magic mixing powders, they should just let you light a five dollar bill on fire and toss it inside the pot.
* Can you put anything in the compartment that holds the plush toy? Like an engagement ring? Or your best pot?
* PHONE TOPIC: What was the coolest toy you ever got?

DOGS KNOW WHEN YOU LIE TO THEM

According to a new study, there is a chance that dogs know when their owners are lying to them. The research, from the Messerli Research Institute in Vienna, showed that dogs react differently to people who told them a lie without realizing it than they did to a person who knowingly lied to them. An experiment was done with 260 dogs where they were put through a simple test where they were lied to – it was basically “which bucket is the food under.” They tested to see how much the dog’s behavior was affected by what the person was communicating to them. The evidence showed that more dogs responded when they were told the truth rather than a lie. These results indicated that the dogs know when they were lied to and made their decisions accordingly.
* Thanks for all those details, scientists, you’ve really cleared things up regarding lying to dogs.
* Of course, dogs are still suckers for the trick where you show the dog you’re behind a blanket in the doorway, then you slip away from the doorway while dropping the blanket and you’ve disappeared.
* How about an experiment where you show them the food is under the bucket, but when you lift it up again it’s the vet?
* So, when we say “go get the ball,” but we didn’t actually throw the ball but they go after it anyway, they’ve just been humoring us for the past 35,000 years?

U.S. NEWS

DOLLAR TREE BUMPS IT UP TO $1.25

Dollar Tree Inc. will soon start selling a majority of its products for – are you sitting down? – more than $1. After 35 years of selling goods for a buck, Dollar Tree is boosting its standard price point to $1.25 by the end of April. Dollar Tree acknowledged the inflationary environment and said the price boost will help mitigate historically high costs, including freight and distribution expenses, as well as wage increases. Chief Executive Officer Michael Witynski said the move will allow Dollar Tree to expand its product assortment and reintroduce some items that were pulled due to the $1 constraint.
* Thanks, Biden.
* They should have changed it to Dollar Tree-Fiddy.
* Ironically, this would never have happened if dollars actually grew on trees.
* All those extra quarters! Get ready to see a big increase in those paychecks, Dollar Tree workers!
* They’d make more money by changing the name to Fifty Bucks – All You Can Carry in Your Hands.
* It’s your move, Family Dollar.

WHY CRANBERRY CANS ARE LABELED UPSIDE DOWN

Journalists are finally asking the hard-hitting question: Why are Ocean Spray cranberry sauce cans labeled upside down? According to Ocean Spray, they label it so the rounded edge of the can on top and the sharp can-like edge on the bottom to keep the jelly whole. That creates an air bubble on the rounded side (a.k.a. the top) so customers can “can swipe the edge of the can with a knife to break the vacuum and the jelly log will easily slide out.”
* Mmmmmm! Jelly log!
* How about putting it in a big tube so you can push out just how much you want with a caulking gun?
* Next up: why is the stuff you stuffed inside the turkey called stuffing?
* Yeah, I think we’ve pretty much exhausted all the Thanksgiving stories for awhile.
* I wish Campbell’s would label their soup upside down, so when you open the can the noodles and chicken chunks would be on the top instead of sitting on the bottom.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

LAST PERSON BORN IN THE 1800’S DIES

A woman believed to be the oldest person in world has died at the reported age of 124. Francisca Susano died on Monday night at her home in the Philippines. Officials believe she was the world’s last surviving person born in the 19th century. Documents say she was born on September 11, 1897 – a year before the Spanish relinquished reign over the Philippines. Her cause of death is yet to be determined.
* Maybe her skin just gave out.
* So … Joe Biden was not born in the 1800’s? Whaddaya know.
* Right to the very last she was hoping she was one of Marvel’s Eternals.
* If she lived in the Philippines, she must have seen the introduction of a lot of new things there. Like shoes, in the 1940’s. And the wheel, which came along there in the ’50’s.
* For her last words, she said her only regret is not being able to learn who ordered the hit on the Dutton family on “Yellowstone.”

TRENDING

MICHAEL STRAHAN THE NEXT CELEBRITY TO GO INTO SPACE

“Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan has been announced as the next celebrity to ride in Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space capsule, along with five others, which will include Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly to space. Both Chephard and Strahan are “invited guests.” The other four passengers had to pay for their seats, though Blue Origin did not disclose how much they paid. The launch is scheduled for December 9.

GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

The 2022 Grammy Award nominations were announced on Tuesday. Here are the major record categories:
Record Of The Year:
– “I Still Have Faith in You,” ABBA
– “Freedom,” Jon Batiste
– “I Get a Kick Out of You,” Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga
– “Peaches,” Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon
– “Right on Time,” Brandi Carlile
– “Kiss Me More,” Doja Cat Featuring SZA
– “Happier Than Ever,” Billie Eilish
– “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X
– “Drivers License,” Olivia Rodrigo
– “Leave the Door Open,” Silk Sonic

Album Of The Year:
– “We Are,” Jon Batiste
– “Love for Sale,” Tony Bennett And Lady Gaga
– “Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe),” Justin Bieber
– “Planet Her (Deluxe),” Doja Cat
– “Happier Than Ever,” Billie Eilish
– “Back of My Mind,” H.E.R.
– “Montero,” Lil Nas X
– “Sour,” Olivia Rodrigo
– “Evermore,” Taylor Swift
– “Donda,” Kanye West

Song Of The Year:
– “Bad Habits,” Ed Sheeran
– “A Beautiful Noise,” Alicia Keys & Brandi Carlile
– “Drivers License,” Olivia Rodrigo
– “Fight for You,” H.E.R.
– “Happier Than Ever,” Billie Eilish
– “Kiss Me More,” Doja Cat featuring SZA
– “Leave the Door Open,” Silk Sonic

Best New Artist: Arooj Aftab, Jimmie Allen, Baby Keem, Finneas, Glass Animals, Japanese Breakfast, The Kid Laroi, Arlo Parks, Olivia Rodrigo, Saweetie

Best Pop Solo Performance: “Anyone,” Justin Bieber; “Right on Time,” Brandi Carlile; “Happier Than Ever,” Billie Eilish; Positions,” Ariana Grande; “Drivers License,” Olivia Rodrigo

Best Country Song: “Better Than We Found It,” Maren Morris; “Camera Roll,” Kacey Musgraves; “Cold,” Chris Stapleton; “Country Again,” Thomas Rhett; “Fancy Like,” Walker Hayes; “Remember Her Name,” Mickey Guyton

MISS AMERICAN PAGEANT TO STREAM ONLY

The Miss America Pageant returns this year for its 100th anniversary but, for the first time, it won’t air on a traditional television network. The five day competition starts on December 12th, and the finale – the part we’re used to seeing – will stream on NBC’s Peacock service on December 19th. Shantel Krebs, interim president and CEO of the Miss America Organization, tried to put a positive spin on it by saying they “look forward to entering the streaming world with Peacock this year to help introduce our 51 outstanding individuals to a younger, broader audience.”

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

TOMORROW – Thanksgiving
Dec. 21, Tuesday – Winter begins, winter solstice occurs at 10:59 am EST
Dec. 25, Saturday – Christmas
Dec. 31, Friday – New Year’s Eve
Jan. 1, Saturday – New Year’s Day

BIRTHDAYS

Sarah Hyland (actress, “Modern Family”) … 31
Katherine Heigl (actress, “State of Affairs,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) … 43
Colin Hanks (U.S. actor, “Life in Pieces”, “Fargo” miniseries) … 44
Stephen Merchant (writer, actor, comedian, co-creator of original British version of “The Office”) … 47
Clem Burke (U.S. drummer with Blondie) … 67
Dwight Schultz (U.S. actor, voice-actor, Murdoch on “The A-Team”; Lt. Barclay on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”) … 74
Pete Best (UK drummer, original drummer for The Beatles before Ringo) … 80

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

“I prefer a kiss that is so much more than just a tongue in your mouth.”

(A) Betty White
(B) Larry David
(C) Katherine Heigl

ANSWER: (C) Katherine Heigl

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

COVID 19 – ONE YEAR AGO:
– The Covid-19 surge in the U.S. increased with the death toll of 2,200 the highest since May, and new cases averaging 175,000 a day.

1998 – A federal judge ruled that it was unconstitutional for a public library in Virginia to use porn-blocking software on its Internet computers.
* Coincidentally, the next day was one of the busiest on record at Virginia libraries.

1971 – D.B. Cooper staged the world’s first ransom hijacking of an airliner. He parachuted out the back door of a Boeing 727 over Southwest Washington state with $200,000, and has never been seen again.
* Is this where we got the phrase “golden parachute”?

1963 – While police at the Dallas City Jail were about to move Lee Harvey Oswald – alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy – to a more secure facility, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby rushed up to Oswald and killed him with a single gunshot, all on live television.
* A single gunshot? Personally, I’ve never believed there was just one shooter.

1871 – The National Rifle Association was formed.
* If you think they have an image challenge NOW, imagine what it was like in 1871, with cowboy shoot-outs every day at high noon!

1859 – Charles Darwin published his “On the Origin of Species” describing the Theory of Evolution.
* Actually, it was descended from several earlier, more primitive theories.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2012 – “Gangnam Style” became the most viewed YouTube video, surpassing 808 million views.

2008 – A British court heard how Boy George chained a male escort to his bedroom wall and beat him with a metal chain after accusing him of hacking into his laptop. The singer had made contact with Mr. Carlsen, 29, on the social networking website Gaydar. Mr. Carlsen told the court that he was dragged along the floor towards the bed and a handcuff was put on his right hand. The manacle was attached to a hook drilled into the wall by the bed. The police later photographed welts on Mr. Carlsen’s arm where the handcuffs had been. Firefighters had to be called to cut the cuffs off.

1991 – Freddie Mercury of Queen died of AIDS complications in London at age 45.

1976 – The band called “The Band” announced to a stunned audience in San Francisco that it was their last concert.

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. 3,500 is the average number of THESE. What is it?
Feathers on a mature turkey

2. About 24% of people will do THIS on Thanksgiving. What is it?
Go to another house for a 2nd dinner

3. More than half of U.S. adults surveyed said THIS shouldn’t happen on Thanksgiving. What is it?
Stores shouldn’t be open on Thanksgiving day

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