On Today’s Show

March 4, 2020 9:35 am Published by

The tornadoes that ripped through Nashville yesterday morning killed at least 25 people and caused massive devastation.  It’ll be a while before officials can assess the full damage.

Obviously, country stars were deeply affected.  They went on social media to share their thoughts, and some are already pledging to help in the recovery efforts.

 DOLLY PARTON posted a video on Twitter, saying, quote, “I want all of you to know that we are all with you, and hope your family’s okay, and your property’s going to get mended soon, and [I] want you to know you’re being thought of, and we love you.”

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We’re supposed to wash our hands more because of COVID 19.  And the old rule is to time out 20 seconds by singing “Happy Birthday” twice.

Someone on Twitter posted a list of songs with choruses that are roughly 20 seconds long.  So you only have to sing them once instead of twice.

The songs include “Africa” by Toto . . . . “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac . A few country songs that work well are “What If I Never Get Over You” by Lady Antebellum . . . “Make Me Want To” by Jimmie Allen . . . and “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Daredevil Nik Wallenda will risk his life on live television yet again, this time with a high-wire walk over an active volcano in Nicaragua. The walk will be 1,800 feet long and is described as his highest and longest walk ever. He’d also be the first person to ever walk across the volcano. The two-hour TV special will air TONIGHT at 8 on ABC.

 

Facebook will actually pay you for your voice recordings. They’re seemingly trying to right a wrong after it was caught analyzing people’s speech without permission in order to train its speech recognition software last year. The new program is called “Pronunciations” and participants will be paid a max of about $5 to use the company’s market research app

The recordings will be used to train its speech recognition AI. Participants must be at least 18-years-old, and for each set of prompts they record they will receive 200 points. Once they reach 1,000 points, they’ll be paid $5 via PayPal. Facebook says it won’t link voice recordings with participants’ Facebook accounts and that all data will be used anonymously.

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TODAY IS……………….

  • “Grammar Day”, a day to celebrate clean, correct sentences.

    • “Unique Names Day”, a day to appreciate people who have unusual names as part of “Celebrate Your Name Week”.

1877 The 1st ‘microphone’ is developed (thanks to Emile Berliner, we have jobs)

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

Rascal Flatts made their chart debut with “Prayin’ For Daylight” in 2000.

 

Rascal Flatts had a guest role on CBS-TV’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2010. The script had bass player Jay DeMarcus electrocuted in the opening scene as the band played “Unstoppable.”

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 Coronavirus Quick Hits: Will March Madness Happen in Empty Arenas?

  1. March Madness begins on Tuesday, March 17th, and if the National College Players Association has its way, there could be NO FANS in the crowd at the games due to the coronavirus outbreak.

 

The NCPA said, quote, “There should be a serious discussion about holding competitions without audiences present . . . the NCAA and its colleges must act now, there is no time to waste.”

 

An NCAA spokesman said they’re “keenly aware of coronavirus,” and will continue to monitor it with health officials and the CDC.

 

  1. Arnold Schwarzenegger canceledhis Sports Festival this weekend.  It’s the country’s biggest health and fitness expo, and it was supposed to happen in Ohio.  Arnold said the expo WILL BE BACK . . . because he’s planning to reschedule it when the disease is under control.

 

  1. Advertisers don’t seem concerned about the Tokyo Olympics being canceled. NBC Sports surpassed $1.25 billion in Olympic ad sales and sold 90% of its inventory, with nearly five months still to go before the opening ceremonies.

 

  1. The global movie industry is facing $5 BILLION in losses due to Covid-19.

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GOOD NEWS

There was a story earlier this year about a brewery in Florida that put shelter dogs on its cans to get them adopted.  And apparently it started a trend.

 

A pizza place in upstate New York just started putting photos of dogs on its pizza boxes.  And it’s already working.

 

Mary Alloy owns a restaurant near Buffalo called the Just Pizza & Wing Company.  And she also volunteers at her local animal shelter. An event coordinator for the shelter came up with the idea to put flyers on the boxes, and Mary immediately got on board.

 

She’s even offering $50 gift certificates for free pizza to anyone who presents one of the flyers when they adopt a pet. She just started doing it last Friday, and at least one of the dogs from the boxes has already been adopted.

 

It’s even more commendable when you find out Mary’s more of a CAT person.  She told the local news she currently has THIRTEEN shelter cats at home.

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BIRTHDAYS

[66] Catherine O’Hara, Toronto ON, actress (“Home Alone” films)/TV actress (“Schitt’s Creek”)

 

[62] Patricia Heaton, actress (“Carol’s Second Act” since 2019, “Everybody Loves Raymond”)

 

[51] Patrick Roach, actor (‘Randy’ on “Trailer Park Boys” 2001-18)

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SURELY YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS:
In a time where the airlines all seem to be skimping on amenities (and legroom) in order to offer bargain-basement airfares, Air New Zealand has changed things up by introducing on-flight sleep pods.

 

The airline unveiled the six-pod, triple-stacked bunk beds for economy travelers last week.  The “Economy Skynest” will provide six full-length flat sleep pods within the economy cabin. The beds are over 6 feet long and 22 inches wide with privacy curtains, sheets, blankets and pillows.

 

The idea is that economy-class travelers will be able to book a pod to sleep in, in addition to their seat, on long-haul flights.

 

No word on the cost, but an industry expert predicted they would need to be priced in the “hundreds of dollars” to be cost-effective for the airline. The pods could be in use by late next year.

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WEDNESDAY MARCH 4TH                                               

 

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

[66] Catherine O’Hara, Toronto ON, actress (“Home Alone” films)/TV actress (“Schitt’s Creek”)

[62] Patricia Heaton, actress (“Carol’s Second Act” since 2019, “Everybody Loves Raymond”)

[51] Patrick Roach, actor (‘Randy’ on “Trailer Park Boys” 2001-18)

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  1. NHL

MTL 6 – NYI 2      STL 2 – NYR 1       PIT 7 – OTT 3                       BOS 2 – TBL 1      MIN 3 – NSH 1

WPG 3 – BUF 1   CHI 6 – ANA 2     EDM 2 – DAL 1 OT             VGK 3 – NJD 0     SJS 5 – TOR 2

 

  1. Movie Director Spike Lee flipped out on ESPN yesterday, because the Knicks want him to stop using the employee entrance at Madison Square Garden, and instead use another VIP entrance.  Spike says he’s being harassed and is so upset he won’t go to any more games this season.  The Knicks said Spike playing the victim card is “laughable.”

 

  1. A wealthy businessman in Massachusetts left a server a $5,000 tip on a $157 bill.  Here she is, along with the rich guy explaining why he did it.

 

  1. Here’s the best of late night……….

 

 

NATIONAL GRAMMER DAY

It’s National Grammar Day.  And a recent study found almost one in 10 are grammar freaks.

People were asked how often they correct a close friend or relative if they make a grammatical error.  And 9% said ALWAYS.

 

41% said sometimes . . . 31% said rarely . . . 15% said never . . . and 4% didn’t answer.

 

Men are almost twice as likely to be grammar freaks . . . 12% said they always correct people, compared to 7% of women.

 

And know-it-all young people are THREE times more likely to be grammar freaks than older people are.

 

15% of people in their late teens and early 20s said they always correct people’s grammar.  Only 5% of people over 55 said the same.

 

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Country Star Reactions and Personal Stories on the Nashville Tornadoes

The tornadoes that ripped through Nashville yesterday morning killed at least 25 people and caused massive devastation.  It’ll be a while before officials can assess the full damage.

Obviously, country stars were deeply affected.  They went on social media to share their thoughts, and some are already pledging to help in the recovery efforts.  A few had personal stories to tell.

 

DIERKS BENTLEY was flying into Nashville’s John C. Tune airport around 11:30 Monday night and he shot video of a nasty storm.  He posted the clip yesterday and said, quote, “Glad we landed when we did.  Wouldn’t have been so good an hour later.

“It was the cell that turned into the tornado.  Lot of people lost their homes, including our drummer, and a lot of people in need.”  He also included aerial photos of the airport that were shot after the tornado, and the destruction is everywhere.

 

KACEY MUSGRAVES has pledged to donate the proceeds from the sale of her stage clothes to the relief efforts.

 

CARRIE UNDERWOOD was on the “Today Show” yesterday to promote her new book but they wanted to know how the storm affected her.  She wasn’t home, but her family was.  She said, quote, “I [was] asking my husband if everybody’s good.

“He said he had to go upstairs at like 2:00 A.M. and grab the boys and take them down to a little safe room in our house.  I was like, ‘I bet everybody is crying.’  It’s 2:00 A.M., freaking out, so it was scary.”

 

 

INGRID ANDRESS STILL ‘ABSORBING’ WHIRLWIND SUCCESS

Ingrid Andress is still pinching herself after yesterday’s (Thursday, Feb. 27th) news that she is nominated for New Female Artist of the Year at the upcoming ACM Awards.

She recently earned a coveted slot on the New Faces show during Country Radio Seminar and she has been tapped for two huge upcoming tours with Dan + Shay and Tim McGraw.

There’s a lot going on all at once for Ingrid, who tells us EXCLUSIVELY that she is still trying to wrap her mind around all her success. [“I am still absorbing it. I feel like its been such a whirlwind, but I’ve been ready for it my whole life pretty much, so I think spending a lot of time just in the craft of writing songs and getting the music right is so important and so to me I think I’m just excited for people to hear everything I’ve been working on cause that’s what is important to me is like if the music is top notch or not.”] S

The ACM Awards will air live from Las Vegas on Sunday, April 5th on CBS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This post was written by Dave Palmer