On Today’s Show
➢ Back in 1993, “The Simpsons” aired an episode where people were demanding a cure for a disease and then they accidentally unleash some killer bees. Sound somewhat familiar?
➢ The Utah Highway Patrol (UPH) says a trooper was conducting a traffic stop on a suspected drunk driver on Monday (May 4th) and instead found a five-year-old boy behind the wheel. The troopers posted about the incident on Instagram, noting the boy had made off with his parents’ car. He told the trooper he had taken the car after getting into an argument with his mother, who told him she would not buy him a Lamborghini. He said he intended to drive to California to buy a luxury vehicle for himself, but the UPH says he only had $3 in his pocket.
➢ Police in Snohomish, Washington, arrested a drunk driver on Sunday morning (May 3rd) after he was caught driving 192 miles per hour in a 60. The responding state trooper tweeted about the incident, noting the 31-year-old driver told him he was on his way to get breakfast. He was charged with a DUI and reckless driving.
➢ The police department in Walker, Louisiana posted a message on Facebook a few days ago asking for the public’s help in tracking down, quote, “an aggressive chicken.”
Apparently the chicken was hanging around by a bank and harassing people as they tried to get out of their cars or use the ATM.
But by the time the cops got there to try to grab the chicken . . . it had fled the scene.
There’s no word if they’ve caught it yet.
➢ If you’ve ever wanted to have Daniel Radcliffe read “Harry Potter” to you . . . well, thanks to the coronavirus, it’s happening. It’s for an ongoing series called “Harry Potter at Home”, which J.K. Rowling announced last month. Future chapters will be released each week throughout the spring and into the summer. Some of the future readers will include David Beckham, Dakota Fanning, Eddie Redmayne, and Stephen Fry, who read the British version of the “Harry Potter” audiobooks.
TODAY IS……………….
- “Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day”, shines a spotlight on the importance of caring for every child’s mental health and reinforces that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development.
2010 [10] “Iron Man 2” opens in movie theaters and eventually grosses $624 million worldwide (unlike most film series, the ‘threequel’ proves an even bigger hit in 2013)
_____________________________________________________________________________
COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE
Eddie Rabbitt died of lung cancer in Nashville at the age of 56 in 1998.
_____________________________________________________________________________
WHY REMOTE MEETINGS DON’T FEEL THE SAME
If you’ve taken a work or family meeting via video chat you know it doesn’t quite feel the same as speaking in person, and there are scientific reasons for this.
Google UX researcher Zachary Yorke wrote a blog about the topic, and says the top reason video meetings feel different is because the so-called “talking stick” gets passed less often. He suggests helping others get their voice heard and reminding others to pass the stick in order to avoid this issue.
Another issue with video meetings is that the social cues we usually rely on when speaking to someone don’t translate well. For example, when face-to-face with someone you can gauge their interest or how much they’re listening by how they’re sitting, or if they lean forward or widen their eyes a certain way. Yorke says to help with this you can minimize distractions in the room so that your eyes are focused on the people in the meeting.
The last issue is that with video, sound travels differently than it does in person. Yorke explains, “We’re ingrained to avoid talking at the same time while minimizing silence between turns. A delay of five-tenths of a second—whether from laggy audio or fumbling for the unmute button—is more than double what we’re used to in-person.” That has an easy fix: just speak a little be slower in your next video meeting.
FOUR RANDOM FACTS
- The guy who founded the Guinness brewery was Arthur Guinness. . . and he had 21 kids with his wife Olivia. That’s not quite enough to be a Guinness world record, but it’s still incredible . . . mostly on her part.
- In two years, Beijing will become the first city that’s hosted both the Summer Olympics AND the Winter Olympics. They had the Summer Olympics in 2008, and they will host the Winter Olympics in 2022.
- Stanley Kubrickhad his secretary type “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over and over on 500 pieces of paper for “The Shining”, even though only a few of them were ever shown on camera.
- NBC split itself into two radio networks in the 1920s and 1930s . . . Red for more expensive shows, and Blue for cheaper ones. The FCC made them divide into separate companies in 1939 as TV was taking shape, and Blue became ABC.
______________________________________________________________________________
GOOD NEWS
And this is why you can’t skip those parent-teacher conferences: Pam Oast is a kindergarten teacher in Thomasville, North Carolina, just outside Winston-Salem.
Tracy Drayton has a daughter named Jada who used to be in Pam’s class. And while she was a student, Tracy and Pam became friends. That was about four years ago. But now they’re even closer . . . because Pam just gave Tracy one of her KIDNEYS.
Tracy was diagnosed with lupus in 2010. And it was manageable until last year, when it started attacking her organs. So doctors told her she needed a kidney transplant.
Pam immediately got tested . . . found out they were a match . . . and surprised Tracy with the news back in November. The surgery was done before the pandemic and they say they wanted to share their story to encourage more people to be organ donors.
______________________________________________________________________________
BIRTHDAYS
[28] Alexander Ludwig, Vancouver BC, TV actor (‘Björn Ironside’ on “Vikings” since 2013)/movie actor (“The Hunger Games”, “Race to Witch Mountain”)
“FACTS” THAT ARE ACTUALLY MYTHS:
✗ The Great Wall of China is the only visible man-made structure from space: From low space at 180 miles high, the Great Wall is not the only visible object. You can see highways, airports, bridges, dams, and components of the Kennedy Space Center. From the moon –you can’t see the Wall.
✗ You swallow eight spiders a year while sleeping: According to Scientific American, the vibrations that come from a sleeping person would probably frighten a spider. While it’s possible that you could swallow a spider in your sleep, there is no evidence that you gulp down eight a year.
✗ A penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building could kill someone: A penny is too small and flat for it to gain enough natural momentum to make any kind of fatal impact. At most, if you were hit, it might feel like being flicked in the forehead.
✗ Touching a toad will give you warts: This probably originated from the fact that toads have wart-like bumps on their skin, but they’re just glands that don’t secrete anything that can cause warts. While some toad secretions can irritate your skin, warts are only caused by human viruses,
✗ Cracking your knuckles too much will cause arthritis: That cracking noise comes from collapsing gas bubbles. However, cracking too often may weaken the strength of your grip.
✗ Goldfish only have a three-second memory: Not only has this been debunked by several studies, some research indicates goldfish could have a memory span of up to five months.
✗ It takes seven years for your body to digest gum: Your body actually can’t digest gum at all. Gum doesn’t stay in your stomach— it quickly moves through your digestive system and exits
____________________________________________________________________________
HOW MANY TIMES A DAY DO YOU BRUSH YOUR TEETH?
An online poll of over 1,600 people reveals how many times per day they say they brush their teeth:
55% twice per day
33% one time per day
12% three times per day or more
NASA Says Tom Cruise Will Make a Movie on the International Space Station
It sounds like those rumors about TOM CRUISE making a movie in space were true.
Yesterday, a NASA administrator Tweeted, quote, “NASA is excited to work with Tom Cruise on a film aboard the [International].
“We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality.”
If this happens, it’ll be the first narrative, non-documentary film to be shot in space.
Netflix released a trailer for their upcoming comedy series, “Space Force.” In it, Steve Carell is hired to lead the new branch of service. Here’s an edited clip of the trailer. (“Space Force,” is set for a May 29 launch, and touts a stellar cast that includes John Malkovich, Jane Lynch, Lisa Kudrow, Ben Schwartz, Noah Emmerich, Tawny Newsome, Diedrich Bader, and Jimmy O. Yang.)
THE MOST NUTRITIOUS FROZEN FOODS YOU CAN BUY:
If you buy a little extra, you can help slow the spread of COVID-19 by reducing your exposure to crowded places. (But don’t hoard!) Here are some healthy foods that you can buy frozen, or buy, and then freeze…
➢ Vegetables: You knew this was coming. Full of important nutrients to help your immune system operate at its peak. Think squash, broccoli, kale, sweet potatoes, cauliflower…. (Does this include the 11 peas I had in that TV dinner last night?)
➢ Fruits: Dark fruits are best, so specifically look for things like cherries, blueberries and blackberries. (Note to self: Don’t try to freeze Frankenberry…again!) Apples are good too.
➢ Protein: Freeze your favorite cuts of meat, or buy pre-frozen burgers or chicken products. Also: beans, seeds and nuts. Yes, you can freeze them.
➢ Grains: Whole grains are a great source of fiber, protein iron and good carbs. Yes, quinoa is a good one, but local stuff like brown rice and buckwheat freeze well too.
➢ Snacks: Because dairy products can supress the immune system, maybe avoid the ice cream treats and choose something made from real fruit, like a sorbet. (Or blueberry waffles?)
THURSDAY MAY 7TH
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
[28] Alexander Ludwig, Vancouver BC, TV actor (‘Björn Ironside’ on “Vikings” since 2013)/movie actor (“The Hunger Games”, “Race to Witch Mountain”)
——————————————————————————————————————————-
- Police had to shut down a Cinco de Mayo tailgate partythat was going on in the parking lot of a taco stand in Jacksonville, Florida. The tailgaters were also full of delicious sound bites.
- A guy in St. Louis who beat the virus got to donate plasma the other day, so his antibodies can help other people beat it. He’s also been shopping for seven different families who are still quarantined, but doesn’t think people should be praising him for it.
- To get ready for Mother’s Day on Sunday, here’s some mom comedy from John Mulaney. He jokes about how his dad will lean in and tout how great his mom is.
- Carnival Cruises ready to go, NASA teams with Tom Cruise, South Korea is playing pro baseball, and ancient rivers on Mars. (From Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Conan O’Brien, and Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, May 6, 2020)
GET SET FOR THE FLOWER MOON, THE LAST SUPERMOON OF THE YEAR
The last supermoon of 2020 will be visible this morning (Thursday, May 7th.)
The Old Farmer’s Almanac notes the moon will not actually be visible when it reaches peak illumination at 6:45 a.m. Eastern time today, as it will still be below the horizon.
The EarthSky website notes, “This May 2020 full moon presents the third and final full moon supermoon of 2020, showcasing the 3rd-closest (and therefore the 3rd-largest) full moon of the year.” A supermoon happens when the moon’s elliptical orbit brings it to the closest point to the Earth while the moon is full.
Can You Top Luke Combs’ Lame Proposal Attempt?
Are you interested in a proposal story that involves cat pee, a panic attack, and hot ears? Good, because it’s the story of when LUKE COMBS popped the question to his now-fiancée Nicole Hocking back in 2018.
They talked about it on the “Couple Things” podcast hosted by former Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, and her husband Andrew East.
First of all, Luke made the mistake of deciding to do it on the night they moved into their new house. Somehow, he didn’t anticipate that they’d be tired, cranky, and surrounded by a chaotic mess of boxes and stuff everywhere. His plan was to put the engagement ring on a new collar he bought for Nicole’s cat. It always jumps on her lap, so she’d see it then. But it had a panic attack in the move and kept peeing itself. Both of their cats had to be sequestered in the shower.
You might be thinking, he could just delay it, right? Well, he couldn’t. She was picking up her parents at the airport the next morning, and they already KNEW about the proposal. They’d be yelling “congratulations” as soon as they saw her.
So in the middle of all this madness he decided to just suck it up and ask her.
TENILLE TOWNES TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM IN JUNE
Tenille Townes will release her debut album, The Lemonade Stand, on June 26th. The project includes 12 songs, all of which were co-written by Tenille. It features five tracks from her Road to the Lemonade Stand EP, as well as her latest release, “The Most Beautiful Things.”
The new album also features “Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking),” which was recently Gold certified in Canada and reached Number One on the BDS Canada and Mediabase Canada country radio charts earlier this year, making it Tenille’s second chart-topping single following her Canadian Platinum-certified “Somebody’s Daughter.”
Sony Music is doing a “Life at Home” series so artists can stay in touch with fans during the pandemic. Here’s Tenille Townes in her yoga pants and slippers saying she’s been passing the time by reading books and writing songs. Mostly, she’s sending her love and looking forward to when the sun rises on the whole thing.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Chris Lane — shaved his beard off for a good cause. He first shared video showing his full quarantine beard, explaining that he is about to shave it to bring attention to Schick Hydro’s #ShaveFromHome program to bring awareness to the National Out of Work Barbers COVID-19 Relief Fund. He then shared an “after” video, revealing a transformation so stunning that his wife didn’t even recognize him.
Kane Brown – He and Chris Young have a new collaboration coming. Brown recently leaked a snippet of the song to his fans via Instagram. He didn’t share the title, but a re-tweet from Young reveals it to be ‘Famous Friends’.
George Strait did a Facebook Live reading of the children’s book, “Never Ask a Dinosaur to Dinner”. It’s part of the “Stars of Texas Storytime” series. (Here’s the link.)
