On Today’s Show
➢ A woman in Florida found a raccoon hiding out in her Christmas tree. Her dog was going nuts, and she thought it was a cat at first. It turned out it got into her house through a doggy door.
➢ Firefighters in Bethlehem, Connecticut were called earlier this month after a cow fell through the cover of an in-ground swimming pool and got stranded in the water. Officers went into the pool in cold water rescue suits, cut the cow free from the pool cover, and then helped it swim to the shallow end where they used roles and slings to guide it up the stairs and out of the water. The cow was not injured and was returned to its owner.
➢ Dozens of people in Kentucky thought they won the lottery back in October. But it turned out there was a typo on their tickets, so a bunch of them are suing. One woman who thought she’d won 60 grand said she reached an agreement, and they paid her $1,000. (That woman is Sarah Whitlow. Here she is saying she’s grateful for the money.)
➢ NATHAN APODACA . . . the guy who skateboarded our blues away to the tune of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”. . . is battling COVID-19.
He and his fiancée Estela both have it . . . and he thinks he got it when he spent a week in L.A. working on some new projects. He’s been in demand ever since his TikTok video went viral.
Four days after he returned home to Idaho, Nathan started experiencing headaches, fever, cough, congestion, and difficulty breathing. He and Estela tested positive on Monday.
➢ Tom Cruise lost it on “Mission: Impossible” crew members who violated COVID protocols, and someone recorded it. He screamed, quote, “If I see you do it again, you’re gone . . . don’t you ever do it again.”
TODAY IS……………….
- “Stupid Toy Day”, a half-hearted salute to some of the bad inventions marketed for kids. Here are a few toys that have been pretty popular over the years, that just might be considered stupid:
– Slinky – Weebles – Pet Rock – Tamagotchies – Furbys
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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE
2003 [17] Shania Twain becomes the first woman with three Diamond albums when her fourth album, “Up!” is certified with 10 million in sales. Her second and third albums, “The Woman in Me” (1995) and “Come On Over” (1997) also went Diamond.
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GEORGIA COP’S ‘QUARANTINE QUARTET’ GOES VIRAL SINGING ABOUT CAR THEFTS
A police officer in Georgia has released another song, and this one is a holiday-themed reminder for people to lock their cars. It comes from the “Quarantine Quartet” which is really just one officer, Sgt. Robert Kirby, who’s become known for his multi-tracked harmonies.
He sings “We wish you would keep your car locked, we wish you would keep your car locked” to the tune of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” before transitioning into a take on “Blue Christmas,” where he croons, “You’ll have a blue Christmas without it. You’ll be so blue just thinking about it.”
He’s of course referencing a stolen car. Kirby’s quartet previously made waves when he sang a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on July 4th.
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FOUR RANDOM FACTS
- The first book that included photographs was published in 1843 and it was about algae.
- Penguins have knees. Their legs just look super short because most of their leg bones are covered in feathers.
- Every ounce of ice water you drink burns one calorie.
- The company Nokia was named after a city: Nokia, Finland. But it’s no longer based there.
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GOOD NEWS
A faithful family dog in China went on a tireless quest to try find her home after the owners left her with a friend to be temporarily looked after.
The one-year-old golden retriever, named Ping An, or “safe and sound,” was thin and injured with bleeding paws after walking over 62 miles alone for 14 days.
The limping dog was spotted outside an office building by a group of workers who rescued it and tracked down her owners.
Within the day, their social media post was seen by the family, who recognized Ping An in the pictures and rushed to pick her up.
In a heart-warming video, the family can be seen stroking and hugging the dog after they were finally reunited after four months.
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BIRTHDAYS
[79] Lesley Stahl, TV journalist (“60 Minutes” since 1991, “48 Hours” 2002-04)
[57] Benjamin Bratt, actor
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HOW’S THIS ‘WORK OUT’ FOR YOU?
OK, this is going to be tough to hear, but if you’re interested in exercising to lose weight, you’re going to have to work out for 300 minutes a week, according to a study.
University of Kentucky researchers looked at 44 overweight, sedentary participants between the ages of 19-49 as they participated in 12-week exercise programs. One group was assigned to exercise for 6 days a week for about an hour a day, another group exercised twice a week, and the final group maintained its typical inactive routine.
While both exercising groups lost a small amout of weight, the frequent exercisers lost significantly more body fat. The researchers determined that while any amount of exercise increases our appetite, by exercising for 300 minutes (5 hours) a week, you’d burn enough calories to offset typical post-workout snacks.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 16TH
- Actor Kirk Cameron is deliberately ignoring COVID restrictionsand hosting massive Christmas caroling events.
The “Growing Pains” star helped organize a massive outdoor gathering Sunday in the parking lot of a mall in California which goes against state orders to stay home.
- A handgun used by the late Sean Connery in the first James Bond film sold for $256,000 at auction in Beverly Hills on Thursday, topping earlier estimates for the piece of Hollywood history. The deactivated semi-automatic Walther PP pistol, which along with its smaller model the PPK, became one of the film franchise’s best-known images, was used by Connery in the movie “Dr. No” in 1962. Julien’s Auctions had previously estimated that the gun would fetch between $150,000 and $200,000.
- Early in the pandemic, a successful artist in New York named Guy Stanley Philoche got on Instagram, and offered to buy art from struggling artists to help get them through the pandemic. He’s now spent over $65,000 doing it.
- The new COVID vaccine, Kylie Jenner made a lot of money this year, cat scratch fever, and French wine thieves. (From Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.)
- Carrie Underwood – says she asked her husband Mike Fisher for some cows for Christmas — and he delivered. She says her 5-year-old son Isaiah: “named them Brownie and Oreo because one’s brown and one is black and white.”
- Charley Pride — will be honored with a new CMT special, airing tonight. “CMT Remembers Charley Pride” ‘is a celebration honoring the extraordinary life and legacy of one of the most influential, decorated and impactful country artists in the history of the genre’. He died on Saturday at 86.
- Dolly Parton — is releasing a perfume as part of a collection with Edge Beauty in 2021. The 74-year-old also recently joked that she must be “ambulance-ready at all times”, because she can’t leave the house without her hair and make-up done.
SAM HUNT INDICTED ON DUI CHARGES
A grand jury in Nashville indicted Sam Hunt on charges of DUI and an open container violation last week. The charges stem back to his arrest for DUI in November of last year.
Sam was allegedly driving the wrong way on the city’s Ellington Parkway around 4 a.m. when citizens began calling 911. Reports say Sam’s blood alcohol level was 0.173, well over the legal limit of 0.08.
Following the incident, Sam apologized on social media writing, “It was a poor and selfish decision, and I apologize to everyone who was unknowingly put at risk and let down by it. It won’t happen again.”
BRETT ELDREDGE, KELLY CLARKSON COLLABORATE ‘UNDER THE MISTLETOE’
Brett Eldredge and Kelly Clarkson’s duet of “Under The Mistletoe” has been turned into a hand-drawn animated music video. As for the song, Brett loved the way their vocals matched up and said, “I think we are going to be singing this song for a very long time.” Brett loves this time of year and released his first Christmas album, Glow, four years ago.
We asked Brett to tell us about his favorite Christmas present as a child. [“I remember, I got a paintball gun for Christmas once. And it was like the famous ‘You’ll shoot your eye out’…I kept hearing that in the back of my head the whole time. But (laugh), I loved that. I still actually…I still have it today and I go out there and shoot at my friends…(laugh) it’s fun, but I’d say the paintball gun was one definitely one of the most memorable gifts I ever got.”]
Kelsea Ballerini Thinks Nurses and Doctors Are the Heroes of 2020
“Rolling Stone” has been doing a thing called “So, How Was Your 2020?” They ask artists questions about the stuff that shaped their year. Here are a few things they squeezed out of KELSEA BALLERINI.
The biggest hero of 2020 was, quote, “Nurses and doctors. I have immeasurable gratitude for their sacrifice, bravery, and heart.”
A word or phrase she never wants to hear again is Murder Hornets.
The thing she’s most looking forward to doing when the pandemic is over is going back on tour. Quote, “I’m really missing the connection and magic of being in the room with people all buzzing off the music together.”
