On Today’s Show
THURSDAY DECEMBER 24TH – WHAT’S HAPPENING
➢ A 9-year-old has been named the highest-paid YouTuber for the THIRD TIME (2nd in a row). Ryan Kaji of Texas has amassed an incredible 27.6 million subscribers to “Ryan’s World”, the most popular of his 9 YouTube channels, and he made about $29.5 million through the site in the past year, according to Forbes. Ryan started out reviewing toys when he was 3, and the child-influencer’s most watched video has scored more than 2 billion views. And if you think an income of almost $30million is a lot for a mini- media maven, brace yourself: He has also made an estimated $200 million from his “Ryan’s World” branded toys and clothing.
➢ In the US, there are 4 places named Santa Claus, as well as 89 Christmases, 29 Noels, 110 Holidays, 8 Icicles and a Poinsettia Park. There are also 48 Comets, 42 Donners, 33 Rudolphs, 13 Vixens, 8 Blitzens, 8 Dashers, 6 Dancers, and 1 Cupid … Cupid Lake MN.
➢ Weighted blankets are all the rage this year, and companies market them as providing “blissful” sleep. They are double-sided blankets with six-inch closed pocket squares filled with glass or plastic beads or pellets to make them heavier. They range from five to 30 pounds. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the gentle pressure that is evenly applied all over the body promotes calmness. While relatively new to the general public, occupational therapists have been using them for years for emotional and physical regulation, according to a review of eight studies completed in 2020. They can help with: Managing emotions, Coping with feelings of anger, Settling down after an outburst, Dealing with stress, Relaxing.
➢ With Christmas approaching, John Krasinski has returned to brighten things up. The star of “The Office” has dropped a brand-new holiday edition of his “Some Good News” web series, bringing much-needed cheer at the end of a long year, with help from very special guests George Clooney, Justin Timberlake, and Dwayne Johnson as Santa.
➢ According to a lawyer who did the math, if Chevy Chase’s “Christmas Vacation” character
Clark Griswold were punished by the US legal system for all the laws broken by him and his family during the course of the film, he’d be looking at some serious jail time. From criminal damage to property, to engineering a power surge while turning his home into a massive fire hazard, to the felony of aggravated kidnapping, Griswold could face fines totalling $75,000 and 15 years in prison, according to the “Laws Broken” web series on the LegalEagle YouTube channel.
TODAY IS……………….
- “Christmas Eve”, a family gift-giving occasion in many countries, it is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.
- “Egg Nog Day”, celebrating the seasonal rum or brandy drink that has nothing good for you in it but sure tastes good. A coffee spiked with egg nog and brandy is called a ‘tom-tom’.
SATURDAY-
• “Boxing Day”, a legal holiday in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the UK.
• “National Candy Cane Day”, In 1844, a recipe was published for a straight peppermint candy stick, which was white with colored stripes. Literature first mentioned the candy cane in 1866, and it was first mentioned in connection with Christmas in 1874. As early as 1882, candy canes have been hung on Christmas trees.
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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE
1980 Kenny Rogers was at #1 on the country album charts with Greatest Hits, which featured three singles that were not included on any of Rogers’ studio albums: “Lady” (written and produced specifically for Rogers by Lionel Richie), “Love The World Away” (a top five country and top 20 pop hit that was featured on the soundtrack of the box-office smash Urban Cowboy) and “Long Arm of the Law”. This was also Rogers’ third #1 album of the year.
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NORWEGIANS WOULD:
Here’s a little something to keep in mind if you’re still having trouble accepting that it’s officially winter: While many of us are planning to hibernate indoors for the next 3-4 months, according to Norwegians, that’s the opposite of what we should do.
In Norway, people are encouraged to bundle up, head outside, and embrace the cherished Scandinavian concept of “friluftsliv”. Friluftsliv is described as a “way of life” in which people embed themselves in nature.
Han Vincent, an outdoor educator who studied the concept while attending university there, says friluftsliv isn’t about snapping the perfect sunset photo or conquering a mountain, but rather a cultural philosophy of being connected to nature. 90% of Norwegians participate in it each year during every season, including winter.
It can mean skiing, skating, or just going outside for a stroll. Beyond the obvious physical benefits, friluftsliv is also good for your mental health, which is particularly important this time of year…and particularly this year.
And if voluntarily spending time outdoors in winter sounds WAY out of your comfort zone (pun intended), remember what anyone who enjoys friluftslic will tell you: “There is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”
RANDOM CHRISTMAS FACTS:
✓ Good King Wenceslas was not a king. He was a Duke.
✓ Telling scary ghost stories is an old Christmas Eve tradition that has died out in the past century.
✓ An average of 14,700 people visit hospital emergency rooms each holiday season because of decorating accidents.
✓ Google Trends data reveals that spiral-cut ham is a more popular Christmas table choice than turkey.
✓ Some zoos accept donated Christmas trees as food for their animals.
GOOD NEWS
You never forget your kindergarten teacher… especially when that teacher was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Thirty years ago, he starred in “Kindergarten Cop”, a high-concept comedy about an L.A. police officer whose latest assignment requires him to go undercover as a small-town Oregon kindergarten teacher.
Flash-forward three decades, and Schwarzenegger Zoom-bombed a half-dozen of those now-grown kids in a 30th anniversary Kindergarten Cop virtual reunion organized by Yahoo Entertainment.
‘Mr. Kimble’ told his former pupils: “Without any doubt, it was the performance of you kids that really made this movie.”
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BIRTHDAYS
[80] Dr. Anthony Fauci, physician-immunologist
[47] Stephenie Meyer, novelist (The “Twilight Saga”, which sold over 100 million copies worldwide)
[46] Ryan Seacrest, TV host
CHRISTMAS DAY – Jimmy Buffett (‘Margaritaville’) is 74;
FUNNIEST TWEETS ABOUT CHRISTMAS:
⇒ I never understood how the little drummer boy’s parents could just send him outside alone at night to play his drum until my daughter brought a recorder home from school. – Simon Holland
⇒ Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie. He sneaks around a tower at night avoiding Alan Rickman. It’s a Harry Potter movie. – Jesse McLaren
⇒ One of my nephews just brought me wine and said, “Here’s your Christmas juice,” and now he’s the one I’m leaving everything to. – Kendra Alvey
⇒ It doesn’t feel like I’m truly home for the holidays until I’ve taken my parents’ phones and said “Here let me show you” at least 25 times. – Ari Scott
⇒ to the people who put antlers & a nose on their car for xmas: u can’t trick me…I know it’s a car – Luis Vercetti
⇒ for the 12th year in a row, Rick Astley is refusing to give his wife her favorite Pixar movie for Christmas – dan mentos
⇒ This whole year has been the nightmare before Christmas — Jessie
⇒ The older you get the more holidays become about keeping your father off a ladder
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A NOVEL NOVEL CORONAVIRUS TEST:
A research team in California has come up with a way to detect the novel coronavirus using an ordinary cell phone camera.
Using a special device attached to a regular smartphone, researchers say they can accurately test nasal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19.
The University of California-Berkeley scientists were working on creating a rapid HIV test, but shifted their focus after seeing the need for coronavirus testing during the pandemic.
Their long-term goal is to have it be part of a widescale testing system used around the world, not just for COVID-19, but for viruses such as the common cold and flu as well.
WHACK CHRISTMAS FACTS:
✓ A large part of Sweden’s population watches Donald Duck cartoons every Christmas Eve.
✓ An artificial Christmas tree would have to be reused for more than 20 years to be “greener” than buying a fresh-cut tree annually.
✓ Japanese people traditionally have KFC for Christmas dinner, thanks to a successful marketing campaign in the 1970s. KFC is so popular that customers place their Christmas orders up to 2 months in advance.
✓ In 1867, a Boston industrialist heard Charles Dickens read “A Christmas Carol” and was so moved, he closed his factory on Christmas Day and gave every one of his employees a turkey.
THURSDAY DECEMBER 24TH
- TONIGHT
- “It’s a Wonderful Life” (NBC): Ruined by a miser on Christmas Eve, a suicidal family man sees life anew thanks to his guardian angel.
CHRISTMAS DAY-
• NFL Football Minnesota Vikings vs New Orleans Saints 4:30pm
- “NBA Basketball” (ABC): Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers, from Staples Center in Los Angeles.
SATURDAY-
• NFL Football Tampa Bay Bucs vs Detroit Lions 1pm
- NFL Football San Francisco 49ers vs Arizona Cardinals 4:30
- NFL Football Miami Dolphins vs Las Vegas Raiders 8:15
- “Saturday Night Live” (NBC): Host Jason Momoa, with musical guest Mumford & Sons
• “Letterkenny” (Hulu/Crave): Season 9 premiere
- This Christmas, instead of watching the TV channel that shows the Yule log in a fireplace, watch a more appropriate scene for 2020 . . . a holiday DUMPSTER FIRE.
An ad agency in Edmonton, Alberta recorded an hour-long video of people throwing 2020-related items into a flaming dumpster, and you can watch it on YouTube.
- Maren Morris — has canceled her 2021 tour dates, and announced that that she’s working on new music. She posted: “There is so much hope with this vaccine being distributed in 2021, but we are still unsure of when we will be able to do the tour next year…I am in the midst of working on my third record, so I hope we can all come together and enjoy live shows safely again soon.”
- • Granger Smith – have given away his truck. In a 22-minute YouTube video, he documented his contest to gift the Chev Silverado 4X4 to a lucky fan. At his farm, 5 qualifiers were challenged to be the last to remove their hand from his truck throughout 24 hours of cold, rain, and enticing offers, including a free vacation. “Mark from Wisconsin” was the eventual victor. LINK: https://youtu.be/Chnk6aK18uI
- Keith Urban – is just one of dozens of country stars who participated in a reading of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas’ organized by “The Country Daily”. Also reading lines: Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley…and just about everyone else. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yb5ld4ke
LUKE COMBS’ MOST MEMORABLE CHILDHOOD CHRISTMAS GIFT
Luke Combs recalls that one of his most memorable childhood Christmas gifts arrived when he was barely a teenager. He tells us: [“My parents got me my own television when I was probably like 13 maybe…12 and they put it in the basement and they got me like an old couch from Goodwill. They hooked it up to cable so me and my buddies could watch TV down there and play N64 and do all that stuff. So, that one was pretty neat. I appreciated, you know, the sentiment of my parents giving me my own space and stuff like that was a really awesome thing . . . A couple years that lasted and then I wanted to have it in the bedroom.”]
This year, Luke will be celebrating his first Christmas as a married man. He and wife Nicole Hocking tied the knot back in August.
GABBY BARRETT IS LOOKING FORWARD TO ‘THE VERY SMALL THINGS’ THIS CHRISTMAS
There aren’t many options for socializing this Christmas, but that’s just fine with Gabby Barrett and her husband, Cade Foehner. They’re looking forward to quiet time at home, as Gabby tells us: [“Nothing crazy (laughs). Just probably the regular . . . like, I look forward to the very small things, the baking the cookies and the . . . He likes when I make dessert a lot so we’ll see what happens with that. I don’t think it tastes the best, but we just love Christmas in our house and we’re excited for just those small kind of things coming and spend the last Christmas together. This is our last one together without a baby so it’ll be very special for us.”]
Gabby and Cade are expecting a baby girl early next year.
DARIUS RUCKER TURNS TO BING CROSBY, THE TEMPTATIONS TO GET IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT
Darius Rucker proved his love of the holidays when he released his album, Home for the Holidays, a few years ago. He’s said in the past that his two favorite holiday movies are Elf and Miracle on 34th Street, so we asked about his favorite Christmas song.
[For]
DAN + SHAY’S SHAY MOONEY’S FAVORITE CHILDHOOD CHRISTMAS GIFT WAS NINTENDO 64 –
Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney recalls the best Christmas gift he ever got as a kid, which he still considers a highlight. He tells us: [“The one thing I remember wanting as a kid for Christmas was a Nintendo 64. That was the ultimate gaming experience and I remember on Christmas morning all the gifts had been opened and it was the only thing I asked for and I was so bummed because I didn’t see it. Then my mom was like ‘Oh, wait, I got one more’ she was like ‘You can go grab it, it’s just a little something’. So, I walked into the bedroom and there it was in all its glory, the Nintendo 64. It was the best moment of my life up to this point (laughs).”]
The duo released two holiday songs this year – “Christmas Isn’t Christmas” and “Take Me Home For Christmas.”
