On Today’s Show
➢ Insects called “MURDER HORNETS” have made their way to the U.S. for the first time ever. These hornets are up to two inches long and a bee expert at Washington State University says they are, quote, “like something out of a monster cartoon.”
The murder hornets kill up to 50 people a year in Japan . . . and their stingers are so long and powerful that they can penetrate beekeeping suits. Fortunately, they don’t usually attack people . . . but when they do, look out.
They’re also a huge predator to honey bees . . . and just a few of these hornets can completely destroy a hive in a few hours. Four sightings have happened in Washington state and British Columbia, Canada. There’s no word on how the hornets got here . . . but experts are working on trying to trap them to keep them from spreading.
➢ Belgium’s national potato industry is calling on the population at large to do its part by keeping deep fryers fired up on the home front. The demand for frozen potatoes has nosedived in recent weeks, and the Belgian industry faces a possible loss of 125 million euros ($135.5 million), if hundreds of tons of surplus potatoes don’t move this year.
➢ How many spaces do you make after the end of a sentence when typing? Microsoft Word is going to start flagging the use of two spaces between sentences as an error. The use of the double-space is leftover from the days of using a typewriter as they could only use “monospaced” fonts, or characters with equal spaces between them, and the extra space ensured a piece would be easier to read. The new rule is being rolled out slowly across Word so you may not notice the change until you update your software. However, if you are passionate about your double-space habit you can instruct Word to ignore the “error.”
➢ Captain America has just joined Instagram and he’s already looking for a cause. Actor Chris Evans, has offered up a virtual hangout and game night with himself and five of his fellow cast members from The Avengers as a fundraiser for the All-In Challenge, a charitable effort to fight food insecurity for children, the elderly and frontline workers in the pandemic. Evans is offering a virtual hang-out with himself and five of his “closest friends: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner.” The winner will get a virtual hang-out for 40 minutes and is allowed to bring along two friends.
➢ “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” will begin streaming on Disney+ TODAY. Makes sense. The conclusion of the Skywalker saga will premiere on Disney+ two months earlier than scheduled in order to celebrate the date that is affectionately known by fans around the world as “Star Wars Day” due to the similarity with the saying from the sci-fi franchise ”May The Force be with you”.
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TODAY IS……………….
- “International Firefighters’ Day”, to recognize the efforts of those brave hearts who risk their lives to keep us safe.
1968 [52] The first McDonald’s ‘Big Mac’ is served (2 all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun) in Uniontown, PA. Price: 45 cents
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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE
Big & Rich‘s debut album, Horse Of A Different Color, was released in 2004.
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Jeff Bezos Is Spending Tens of Millions of Dollars to Build a 10,000-Year Clock Inside a Mountain
COVID-19 has Amazon.com prioritizing “essential items” . . . however, JEFF BEZOS is building a NONESSENTIAL item in Texas.
According to Popular Mechanics, Bezos is paying engineers and contractors to build a massive, multi-room clock inside a mountain in West Texas.
The clock will tell time for the next 10,000 years . . . although there’s no way to guarantee that of course, since none of us will be around then, and there’s a chance that the Planet Earth won’t exist at that point. The clock is designed to tick just once a year and chime once per millennium.
It’ll be 500 feet tall, and quote, “all mechanical, powered by day / night thermal cycles, and synchronized at solar noon.” So far, the clock has cost $42 million to build.
Bezos explained the clock as a way to remind people that the far future not only exists, but will happen to their descendants.
FOUR RANDOM FACTS
- Coca-Cola was offered the chance to buy Pepsi three times between 1922 and 1933, and they turned it down every time.
- The French coffee press was invented by an Italian designer in 1929.
- Football got a chance to be in the Olympics when it was added as a demonstration sport at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles . . . but it bombed, and has never been considered again.
- Liechtenstein, the world’s smallest country, is also the world’s largest manufacturer of false teeth.
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GOOD NEWS
Could the idea of high school graduations at drive-in movie theaters take off? Schools in Kansas City, Kansas are doing it.
An ice cream shop owner in Florida is a huge yo-yo fan. And he’s giving over 2,000 of them away to customers to lift people’s spirits. He wants to organize an event down the road, and break the world record for most people yo-yoing at once.
A company that syncs drones together for aerial displays did an epic “thank you” show for healthcare workers on Tuesday. It happened outside a hospital at the University of Pennsylvania.
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BIRTHDAYS
[61] Randy Travis, country singer
[50] Will Arnett, Toronto ON,actor (“Arrested Development” 2003-06, 2013)
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57% of People Who Just Started Working from Home Love It, and Want to Keep Doing It
Will more companies let people work from home, even after the crisis is over? Almost definitely, to some extent. And not everyone thinks that’s a bad thing.
A new survey talked to 1,000 people who’d never worked from home before the virus hit. And a majority of them want to KEEP doing it.
57% said they’d prefer to continue working from home in the future. Here are five more quick stats . . .
- 48% think they’re more productive at home. Only 29% said less productive.
- 76% of people working from home right now are using Zoom or other video conferencing apps on a daily basis.
- A lot of us DO have “coworkers.” 68% said at least one other person in their household is also working from home right now.
- We miss our I.T. department though. 53% said they’ve experienced glitches during video calls, and things like their audio dropping out.
- 54% of new at-home workers have had to upgrade their tech in some way. Like replacing their computer, buying a printer, or upgrading their webcam.
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AQUARIUM NEEDS HELP
A Japanese aquarium closed during the outbreak is asking people to make video calls to their eels so the sensitive creatures remember humans exist and don’t pose a threat.
The Sumida Aquarium has been closed since the start of March and its animals have become used to a largely human-free environment during the two-month calm.
“Garden eels in particular disappear into the sand and hide every time the keepers pass by,” it noted. That is causing difficulties for keepers trying to check on the health of the animals.
In a bid to reacquaint the eels with humans, the aquarium is setting up five tablets facing the tank housing the delicate creatures, with eel enthusiasts asked to connect through iPhones or iPads via the FaceTime app.
The “face-showing festival” is scheduled for May 3-5, at the height of Japan’s Golden Week holiday period, when many people usually travel. The aquarium’s plea has attracted plenty of support, under the Japanese hashtag #PleaseRememberHumans.
And among those eager to take part were many calling on the aquarium to offer access via another app, so that those using PCs and phones with Android operating systems could also take part.
MONDAY MAY 4TH
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
[61] Randy Travis, country singer
[50] Will Arnett, Toronto ON,actor (“Arrested Development” 2003-06, 2013)
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- Two sheriffs in Arizona refuse to enforce the Governor’s stay-at-home order. Here are their comments on why they won’t be doing it.
- ABC has figured out how to fill the postponed new season of “The Bachelor” . . . with ten weeks of “best of” shows. Every Monday night, they’ll have three-hour shows, featuring retrospectives from the best seasons. Plus, updates on some of the contestants. To get you ready, we put together this “Bachelor” supercut.
- Jordan Rubin jokes about the making of the original “Star Wars”, and how weird the auditions must’ve been for characters like Chewbacca and R2-D2.
- Georgia opening up some businesses, and NASCAR races are returning. (From Bill Maher and Jimmy Fallon, the weekend of May 1, 2020)
- Luke Bryan – TMZ reports that his Watersound, Florida cigar bar “Shore Thing Cigars” hosted a “grand re-opening” karaoke night on Friday. But the location should not have re-opened at all. While restaurants in Florida can re-open today, bars must remain closed. So, regardless of whether Shore Thing Cigars is considered a restaurant or not, it should not have been open for patrons on Friday.
- Boots and Hearts – The annual country music festival in Oro-Medonte north of Toronto has been cancelled for 2020 due to the pandemic. Eric Church has already been announced a headliner for the 10thanniversary of the festival, set for Aug. 5-8, 2021.
MIRANDA LAMBERT HAS GROWN COMFORTABLE ‘SITTING IN THE MOMENT’
Miranda Lambert has found that being in her 30s has had an overall calming effect on her. The 36-year-old is happily married to former NYPD officer Brendan McLoughlin after a painful divorce from Blake Shelton, and Miranda tells us that getting through the tough times has given her a new perspective. [“Now I feel like I’m really okay with where I am and I’m not afraid of like hard things because I know that you can get through it, and I also know that some of my goals, part of those are career-oriented, but I also have a lot more life goals than I used to have, like I just want to enjoy my surroundings and not rush through everything and now I’m more comfortable just sitting in the moment.”]
Miranda Lambert has purchased a new Airstream Globetrotter and she and her husband, Brendan, plan to start driving taking in the sights. She shared pictures of the Airstream on social media writing, “I’ve been everywhere but I haven’t seen much of anything.” She plans to correct that until her tour can start back up.
BRAD PAISLEY OFFERS ENCOURAGEMENT TO 2020 GRADUATES
Brad Paisley is reaching out to the graduating class of 2020 with some heartfelt advice in light of the fact that this year’s graduates won’t get to walk with their class, celebrate with friends and family, and share in many of the traditions and privileges that come with making it through senior year.
Brad offers this year’s graduates some food for thought: [“I challenge the class of 2020 to take all of this frustration and turn it into something good. Become doctors, scientists, nurses, first responders, leaders… People who do a better job than we have done with this. You can change the world and that doesn’t just change because you didn’t get to walk across that stage and shake hands with your principal or throw that cap in the air. You are the future of this country and we’re hoping that you will rise up and make it an even better place.”]
Brad recently released a new single called “No I In Beer.” He co-wrote the song a couple of years ago but found it especially fitting for these current times.
RASCAL FLATTS RELEASE KENNY ROGERS COVER – (05/04/2020)
Rascal Flatts is paying tribute to one of their idols, the late Kenny Rogers, with the release of an emotional rendition of his hit “Through The Years” to all streaming platforms. The trio gave the performance of the track for the first time as part of CMT Giants Kenny Rogers: A Benefit For MusiCares, just a few weeks ago.
Rascal Flatts‘ Farewell: Life Is A Highway Tour, is scheduled to kick off on June 11th in Indianapolis.There is no word yet on whether the dates will be postponed due to COVID-19.
Boots and Hearts – The annual country music festival in Oro-Medonte north of Toronto has been cancelled for 2020 due to the pandemic. Eric Church has already been announced a headliner for the 10th anniversary of the festival, set for Aug. 5-8, 2021.
