On Today’s Show

A snake catcher in Australia recently shared a video of an unusual incident at a home in which a venomous snake had disappeared into a pile of shoes.

The video eventually shows the catcher getting the yellow-faced whip snake out of its hiding spot, which he defines as “mildly venomous, but potentially dangerous.”

Maybe don’t go to Australia for Christmas. A woman living in Brisbane says she and her partner came home from their jobs and noticed birds outside on their balcony were going crazy. Then they realized it was because there was a ten-foot long python wrapped around their Christmas tree, which was also on the balcony. The two went back inside, and waited until the animal eventually slithered away.

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Traditionally, fruitcakes are aged for weeks, months or even a year before being brought out as a controversial love-it-or-hate-it treat during the holidays.

But one family in Michigan is taking it to the extreme, holding on to an heirloom fruitcake baked in 1878. Fidelia Ford would let her fruitcakes age for a year before serving them, but she died in 1879 before the previous year’s cake could be eaten. The family decided to keep it. It’s now a celebrity confection — having made a guest appearance on “The Tonight Show” in 2003

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ENTERTAINMENT

The Force was a little less strong with “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” J.J. Abrams’ Skywalker finale couldn’t match its recent predecessors on opening weekend, but it still amassed a US$175.5 million debut that ranked as the third largest weekend of the year.

“The Rise of Skywalker” pulled in $374 million worldwide, according to studio estimates.

“Cats.” Tanked. The much ridiculed big-screen musical, featuring infamous “digital fur technology,” scratched out just $6.5 million in ticket sales.

The $100 million production, featuring an ensemble including Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench, James Corden, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen and Taylor Swift, came in behind projections and opened in a distant fourth place.

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• “The Price Is Right at Night: A Holiday Extravaganza With Seth Rogen” (CBS): Rogen plays for Hilarity for Charity (HFC), the national Alzheimer’s nonprofit organization founded by him and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen.
• “Saturday Night Live” (NBC): A collection of “Saturday Night Live’s” Christmas-themed sketches from various seasons, including D… in a Box, Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood, Adam Sandler’s Chanukah Song, Martha Stewart’s Topless Christmas and more.

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TODAY IS……………….

• “Chanukah” began last evening, the 8-day Jewish celebration also known as “Festival of Lights”. Traditions include the lighting of candles placed in the menorah and the exchange of gifts. Children often play the spinning-top dreidel game. Ends at sunset Dec. 30.

• “Festivus”, created in 1966 but little-known until mentioned in a “Seinfeld” episode in 1997. It’s dedicated to celebrating the season without the pressure and commercialism of traditional holidays.

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

1974 John Denver was at #1 on the album chart with Back Home Again. The multi-platinum album contained the hit singles “Annie’s Song”, “Back Home Again” and “Sweet Surrender”. In addition, the studio version of “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” appeared on this album.

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LOTTERIES THIS WEEKEND – PROMO INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

No winning ticket was sold for the $7 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw.

However, there were also five guaranteed prizes of $1 million each, with two of them going to ticket holders in Ontario, and the others to lottery players in Quebec, Atlantic Canada and the Prairies. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Dec. 25 will be approximately $9 million.

No winning ticket was sold for the $50 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw.

The draw also offered two Maxmillion prizes of $1 million each, but again, there were no winners.

The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on Dec. 24 will grow to approximately $55 million, and four Maxmillion prizes will be offered.

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RANDOM REPORT

1.  There’s an actual medical condition for when a song gets stuck in your head and just won’t leave.  It’s called musical tinnitus.

2. In 1858, London battled something called “The Great Stink” . . . when human waste overflowed their medieval wooden sewers, and created three massive outbreaks of contagious disease.

3. Thomas Edison and his partner, Edward Johnson, created the first electric lights for Christmas trees in 1882. Until 1903, when General Electric began to offer pre-assembled kits of Christmas lights, stringed lights were reserved for the wealthy and electrically savvy.
4. Jack Nicholson’scontract for “Batman” gave him a percentage of the sequels.  So even though he wasn’t in “Batman Returns”, “Batman Forever”, or “Batman and Robin”, he made over $100 million from them.

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GOOD NEWS

An Ontario teen has been granted his dying wish thanks to a little help from Toronto Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia.

Brampton, Ont. teen Corey Groves was diagnosed with highly aggressive stage four sarcoma cancer about six months ago. Since his diagnosis, he has been through 12 rounds of chemotherapy.

The 17-year-old said he has his “off days” and tries to keep a positive outlook on the situation, despite the 15 per cent survival rate for his type of rare cancer and being told he has less than a year to live.

Groves, who said he has always been a Los Angeles Lakers fan was granted a wish from the Children’s Wish Foundation and he wanted to meet his hero Lebron James.

Despite multiple attempts, the foundation was not able to arrange a meeting with James, but offered Groves a week-long all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles along with tickets to a game. He is leaving on TODAY Dec. 23.

But Bhatia made a surprise visit to Groves at the hospital to give him the news he’s been waiting for – a meeting with Lebron on Christmas Day.

Bhatia’s spokesperson, said the superfan had been working “diligently behind the scenes to make this happen.”

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BIRTHDAYS

[76] Harry Shearer, TV voice-over actor (numerous voices on “The Simpsons” since 1989

[73] Susan Lucci, TV actress, (‘Erica Kane’ on “All My Children” 1970-2011)

[17] Finn Wolfhard. Vancouver Canada, TV actor (‘Mike Wheeler’ on “Stranger Things” since 2016)/movie actor (“It”) COMING UP…”The Turning”, 2020

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CONGRESS IS REPORTEDLY CLOSE TO RAISING THE LEGAL AGE TO BUY TOBACCO

Right now in the U.S. you can buy tobacco products beginning at age 18, but that could soon change. A year-end congressional spending bill includes a provision that would raise the legal age to buy tobacco products to 21.

This would mean retailers could not sell tobacco products of any kind, including e-cigarettes, to anyone under age 21. The new law will take effect in about 9 months.

Currently, 19 states plus Washington, D.C., have a rule that means you must be 21 to buy tobacco products.

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MONDAY DECEMBER 23^RD                                             

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

[76] Harry Shearer, TV voice-over actor (numerous voices on “The Simpsons” since 1989

[73] Susan Lucci, TV actress, (‘Erica Kane’ on “All My Children” 1970-2011)

[17] Finn Wolfhard. Vancouver Canada, TV actor (‘Mike Wheeler’ on “Stranger Things” since 2016)/movie actor (“It”) COMING UP…” The Turning”, 2020

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1. NHL

NYR 5 – ANA 1    ARI 5 – DET 2       CGY 5 – DAL 1     VGK 3 – SJS 1

2. The BBC YouTube channel casually uploaded a video titled “9 hours of our Christmas cat hoovering #XmasLife.” Viewers get exactly what the name promises: a lengthy, uninterrupted loop of a feline sitting atop a self-driving vacuum cleaner, riding back and forth, in and out of frame. Clocking in at no less than 9 hours, 9 minutes and 9 seconds, the video, which has been viewed more than 30,000 times since its upload, shows the unbothered kitty sweeping the floor within a room decked out for the holidays, Christmas tree and all. “Feel the festive cheer with our furry friend on a robot vacuum cleaner, and live your best #XmasLife,” reads the video’s description.

3. Dustin Lynch – says that he and his family are such loyal fans of the seasonal classic “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” that they exchange gifts labelled “From Cousin Eddie” which always have some significance to the film. They also enjoy watching the movie “several times” each December.
4. John Pinette on turnips

83-Year-Old Guy’s Christmas Song Finally Made It on the Radio

There’s an 83-year-old great-grandfather in Texas named Johnny Gondesen who used to be in a country western band when he was young.  And back in 1965, he wrote a Christmas song for his kids called “Christmas Is Here”.

It’s all about Santa coming down the chimney.  And it’s got a classic, old-timey feel to it.  But it never got released. Johnny and his family sing it every Christmas, and they’ve always thought it was pretty good.  So a few years ago, they made a YouTube video, put the song on iTunes, and sold a handful of copies.

But Johnny’s real dream was for people all over the country to hear it on the RADIO someday.  And now it’s happening. A station in Houston heard about the story, and had him on last week.  Then CNN picked it up.  And now more people are playing it.

He doesn’t care if it ever makes him any money.  He just knows his kids loved it.  So he wants it out there for other kids to enjoy.

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CHRIS YOUNG’S PUPPY MIGHT NOT MAKE SANTA’S ‘NICE’ LIST

Chris Young‘s two-year-old German Shepard is used to getting spoiled at Christmas, but this year Porter might end up on Santa’s naughty list. Chris tells us: [“Porter gets Christmas presents, for sure, although he got in trouble. If Santa was watching him the other day he was not on the nice list because he ate part of my stairs at the new house while I was asleep, so that was fun to wake up to.”]

Chris closes out the year climbing the charts with his latest single, “Drowning.”

His first headlining Raised On Country Tour wrapped up last month after playing for over 400,000 fans in three countries in 2019.

CHRIS JANSON FOCUSES ON FAMILY AT CHRISTMAS

Chris Janson makes spending time with his family a priority throughout the year, but especially during the holiday season. As a parent to two young kids and step-parent to two teenagers, Chris tells us that Christmas is a hectic but bonding time. [“Christmas as a parent, it becomes not about you when you have kids so the holidays are super special especially now that the older ones have like boyfriends and girlfriends. It’s weird and cool at the same time. The little ones are still immersed in what the holiday traditions are really about and it’s great to share that cause really the way I look at it, bottom line is we have two older helpers now to help us with the two young ones who are just bouncin’ off the walls all the time so it’s really a blessing.”]

Chris returns to the road on Jan. 10th in Stamford, CT.

DARIUS RUCKER’S CHRISTMAS TABLE MUST INCLUDE SWEET POTATO PIE – (12/17/2019)

One of the things Darius Rucker looks most forward to during the holiday season is the food! He admits he loves to eat, and Darius is always happy when one specific dish is on the table.

He tells us: [“I’m a big food guy, as you can tell by looking at me up here. I like food a lot. But my favorite thing is my sister’s sweet potato pie. I love sweet potato pie so much, and I don’t get it very often. And my sisters always make sure I get a couple during Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that’s my favorite thing – sweet potato pie.”]

Darius is set to perform at the Daytona 500 in February.

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Keith Urban went online Friday (Dec. 20)and gave his fans an unexpected Christmas gift. He posted an acoustic version of his new Christmas song, “I’ll Be Your Santa Tonight.”

It’s just Keith sitting in a studio with his guitar, singing the song by himself. Along with the video, he posted the words… ‘Tis the Season.

Keith’s next show is scheduled for New Year’s Eve in Nashville. It’s a free outside concert that is expected to have 200,00 in attendance.

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS THAT ARE DISAPPEARING:
☞ Christmas Caroling:  You just don’t see groups of warmly-dressed people traveling throughout the neighborhood singing Christmas songs anymore. Not even for hot cocoa. ☞ Hand-Strung Popcorn Garlands:  A needle, some thread, freshly popped popcorn, and some fresh cranberries — Today, hand-strung popcorn garland is a rarity. (

☞ Holiday Cards:  Congrats to you if you still write out cards by hand. Double congrats if you actually mail them to friends and family. Although it’s been reported that some millennials are sending cards these days as part of a revival

☞ Real Christmas Trees:  Stats show that 82% of US households who put up a tree will be using an artificial one.

☞ Printed Catalogues:  Remember the giddiness that accompanied the arrival of the Sears Wish Book? Today, while many companies send out catalogues, they are often just samplings of what is available online.

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer