On Today’s Show

➢ As many as 550 people may have been exposed to COVID-19 after a Toronto strip club employee tested positive for the virus. Toronto Public Health says the person worked at the Brass Rail Strip Club. Contact tracing has been completed for customers who visited the bar during the employee’s shifts August 4-8^th. Anyone who may have been exposed directly or indirectly has been advised to self-isolate for 14 days.

➢ The oldest person in the U.S. got a big drive-by birthday party in Charlotte this weekend.  Her name is Hester Ford, and she turned 116 years old on Saturday.  She has 48 grandkids and over 200 great-grandchildren.  (Here are a few of her family members talking about how she’s inspired them.)

➢There was a car crash in the Swiss Alps last week involving a Mercedes-Benz C-Class wagon, a Porsche 911 Cabriolet, and a Bugatti Chiron.  Oh, and a motor home.

The total value of the cars that were wrecked?  $4 MILLION.  And most of that comes from the Bugatti, which is worth at least $3 million.

The police report says the motor home was driving slowly up a mountain pass and holding up traffic.

The Bugatti driver didn’t want to wait, so he tried to pass the motor home and a bunch of other cars . . . just as the Porsche driver had the same idea.  They collided, hit each other, then hit the Mercedes and the motor home.

Fortunately, no one was killed, but the Mercedes driver had to go to the hospital with injuries.

➢ People continued to flock to cinemas in China on Saturday to see Warner Bros’ 4K 3D restoration of “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone”. After setting a new $4.54M record on Friday for single-day gross since cinemas reopened there, the boy wizard upped the magic to an estimated $4.8M on Saturday, putting weekend projections in the in the $13M-$14M range. That would be the biggest Middle Kingdom debut of any film in the post-COVID era — not bad for a 19-year-old movie.

➢ A number of Hollywood stars, including Sean Penn and Jennifer Aniston, will take part in a table read of the iconic teen comedy “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. Julia Roberts, Morgan Freeman, Henry Golding and Shia LeBeouf have also signed up for the read-through, which will raise funds for CORE – the humanitarian charity co-founded by Penn. The virtual table read will be unrehearsed and will feature an introduction from director Amy Heckerling and writer Cameron Crowe. It is unclear who will be reading which roles, but Penn says he will not be reprising his role as Jeff Spicoli.

TODAY IS……………….

• “Black Cat Appreciation Day”, an annual event encouraging the adoption of black and B&W cats.  Like black dogs, they are usually the least popular choice at animal shelters.

2008 [12] By winning gold in the Men’s 4X100 medley relay in Beijing, USA swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first Olympian to win 8 gold medals in a single Olympics (retired from competition with a record 23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

Vince Gill‘s When Love Finds You album went gold and platinum simultaneously in 1994

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TEMPERATURE HITS 130 DEGREES IN DEATH VALLEY: 

As the Western U.S. continues to suffer through an historic heat wave, the temperature in Death Valley, California, reached a scorching 130 degrees on Sunday afternoon (August 16th), among the top three highest ever measured around the world and possibly the highest ever recorded in the month of August.

Death Valley holds the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, 134 degrees, on July 10th, 1913.

However, that measurement is in doubt, as is the only other higher reading since 1873, 131 degrees in Kebili, Tunisia, on July 7th, 1931.

Because of that, some experts consider the record to be 129 degrees, recorded in Death Valley on June 30th, 2013, and in Kuwait and Pakistan in 2016 and 2017, respectively. If that’s correct, yesterday’s temperature would have set a new record.

FOUR RANDOM FACTS

1.  The first Christmas card was published and sold in 1843 . . . the same year as Charles Dickens’“A Christmas Carol”.

2. In China, some cops prefer guard geese over guard dogs . . . because geese are more territorial and have better eyesight.

3. There is a species of butterfly in Brazil that has the color and fragrance of chocolate.
4. Buzz Aldrin’s mother’s maiden name was “Moon”.

GOOD NEWS

An 86-year-old Navy veteran named Rudy Armstrong lives on a houseboat in Oriental, North Carolina with his Chihuahua, Boo-Boo.

Last week, Rudy had a STROKE.  And he couldn’t get to his phone to call for help because he couldn’t move one of his arms or legs.

So he said, quote, “Okay, Boo-Boo, go get me some help.”  And Boo-Boo DID.  She went running off the boat and brought back the dockmaster, who called 911.

Rudy was in the hospital for five days before he was reunited with Boo-Boo.  Quote, “I’ve got tears running out of my eyes.  Missed her so much, man.”

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BIRTHDAYS

[77] Robert De Niro, actor (2 Oscars-“The Godfather II”, “Raging Bull”)

[60] Sean Penn, actor (2 Oscars-“Milk”, “Mystic River”) COMING UP…”Flag Day”

ACCIDENTAL INVENTIONS:
⇒ Microwave oven:  Percy Spencer was experimenting with radar devices when a candy bar in his pocket started melting. Utilizing this new knowledge, he patented the microwave.

⇒ Potato chips:  They were invented when an annoying customer kept asking a restaurant to make his French fries thinner and crispier. George Crum, the chef, sliced them wafer-thin as a joke, but the guy loved them, and the potato chip was born.

⇒ Play-Doh:  It was originally marketed as a wall cleaner that didn’t work so well. Luckily, kids started using it to make little sculptures, and before long, the fledgling company was making waves as a children’s toy.

⇒ Post-its:  Spencer Silver discovered a ‘low tack’ adhesive in 1968 for which he found no use. Art Fry was frustrated with not having sticky notes for his church books. Combining their heads, they launched post-its in 1980. Fridges have never looked the same.

⇒ Slinky:  Naval engineer Richard Jones was experimenting with tension springs for battle ships when one of them dropped to the floor. It kept flopping around, as Slinkies do. Jones got rich and kids everywhere now enjoy stairs a lot more.

⇒ Safety glass:  A chemist was working in his lab when a glass flask fell to the floor but didn’t shatter. This was because the inside was lined with plastic cellulose nitrate. He patented it and it is now used in all cars as well as gas masks and more.
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COFFEE: IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO?
It seems that every week, there is another report about the benefits of drinking coffee.

Well, here’s another…but it has nothing to do with your health. A new study from researchers at Aarhus University has found that a single cup of coffee dramatically enhances our sensitivity to sweetness, and diminishes our sensitivity to bitterness.

Their test involved 156 volunteers who were given a cup of coffee. What they found was that although the subjects’ sense of smell was not altered afterward, their sense of taste was profoundly affected.

They reacted more readily to sweet substances while being less attuned to bitter ones. The study’s author says that it is probably some of the bitter substances in coffee that create this effect.

HAPPINESS IS RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE:
You know the routine. You’re feeling grouchy, and someone tells you to smile. And there’s nothing you want to do less than smile.

But new research says that faking a smile can actually make you feel happier.

Researchers found that forcing a smile can essentially trick the mind into receiving the facial expressions and body language of others more positively, which in turn boosts our own mood.

In the experiment, scientists asked volunteers to place a pen between their teeth, forcing their faces into a smile. They then asked the participants to evaluate the facial expressions of other people, sometimes with the pen in their mouth and sometimes without.

The results showed that the pen-in-mouth people viewed the facial expressions of others in a more positive light than those without a pen in their mouth. The lead researcher said that the study shows that when your muscles say you’re happy, you’re more likely to see the world around you in a positive way.

The Secret to Avoiding Freezer Burn Is Storing Your Ice Cream Upside Down

We’re stress-eating ice cream so fast right now, this might not matter as much.  But there’s a simple trick to prevent freezer burn:  Once you open a tub of ice cream, put it back in your freezer UPSIDE DOWN.

Upper-level ice cream fans might know this already.  But it works so well, Ben & Jerry’s suggests it on their website.  Here’s why . . .

When you refreeze things, the warm air that’s gotten in sucks out some of the moisture.  So the ice cream dries out a little bit, and the moisture that’s pulled from it becomes ice crystals at the top.

When the ice cream on top gets REALLY melted, it can also drip down and melt the colder stuff at the bottom too.  Which makes it even worse.  But storing it upside down stops that from happening.

It’s an even better idea if you accidentally leave ice cream out and it melts a lot.  Just make sure the lid is on tight, so it doesn’t spill out when you flip it over.

Making sure your freezer’s cold enough stops freezer burn too.  It should be zero degrees, or colder.

You also shouldn’t store it in the door, because it thaws out a little bit every time you open it.  So it’s best to keep it in the back, with other cold stuff packed around it.

MONDAY AUGUST 17^TH  

1. New York Islanders 2, Washington Capitals 1 (OT) – New York leads series 3 games to 0

Dallas Stars 5, Calgary Flames 4 (OT) – Series tied 2-2

Chicago Blackhawks 3, Vegas Golden Knights 1 – Vegas leads series 3 games to 1

Philadelphia Flyers 1, Montreal Canadiens 0 – Philadelphia leads series 2 games to 1

St. Louis Blues 3, Vancouver Canucks 2 (OT) – Vancouver leads series 2 games to 1

The NBA playoffs will begin today (August 17th), with 16 teams competing in the first round at the league’s Walt Disney World “bubble,”:  Toronto vs. Brooklyn

The Chicago White Sox tied an MLB record Sunday (August 16th) with four consecutive home runs against the St. Louis Cardinals in their 7-2 win, the 10th time in major league history it’s been done. All four homers were hit in the fifth inning off Cardinals reliever Roel Ramirez, who was making his major league debut.

2. • “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Shania Twain

• Shania Twain — is celebrating the 25^thanniversary of her 20-million-selling “The Woman in Me” album by releasing a “Diamond Edition” which will include 16 previously unreleased tracks, live recordings, demos and remixes. It’ll be available in two- and three-CD configurations on Oct. 2.

3. A nine-year-old boy in Oklahoma who’s been in foster care for six years has now had thousands of adoption offers after he appeared on the news and saidhe’d, quote, “just like to have a family.”

4. Should guys in their fifties work out a lot?  Here’s Rob Schneider from his new Netflix special.

LOTTERIES THIS WEEKEND

No winning ticket was sold for the $20 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw.

The jackpot for the next draw TOMORROW will be approximately $25 million.

A lottery player in Nova Scotia won Saturday night’s $17.4 million Lotto 649 jackpot.

Meanwhile, the draw’s guaranteed $1 million prize went to a ticket holder in Ontario.

The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw WEDNESDAY will be approximately $5 million.

SHANIA TWAIN TO RELEASE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE OF ‘THE WOMAN IN ME’ ALBUM

Shania Twain will celebrate the 25th anniversary of her breakthrough album, The Woman in Me, by releasing a Diamond Edition of the project. It will include previously unreleased tracks, live recordings, and new mixes, and will be available in two- and three-CD configurations, with the remastered album available in LP and Limited-Edition color variant LP versions. The Woman In Me: Diamond Edition will be available on October 12th.

FAST FACTS

The Woman in Me: Diamond Edition is accompanied by a 48-page booklet containing liner notes from Shania, a 3,000-word essay written by renowned pop-culture journalist Eve Barlow, and photographs from John Derek, Albert Sanchez, Mark Tucker, Bo Derek, and Alexander E. Harbaugh.

The Woman in Me spent 29 weeks atop the country albums chart and was 1995’s best-selling country album. It won a GRAMMY for Best Country Album in 1996 and later was ranked No. 8 on CMT’s list of 40 Greatest Country Albums.

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JON PARDI RELEASES SURPRISE LIVE ALBUM OF COVER SONGS

Jon Pardi surprised fans with the unexpected released of a new album on Friday (August 14th). The project, called Rancho Fiesta Sessions, features eight cover songs Jon recorded live during a one-night live jam session with his touring band from his home base in Nashville, which he dubbed “Rancho Fiesta.” He took on songs recorded by Dwight Yoakam, George Strait, Tom Petty, and even Prince, to name a few.

[“I think the magic and the fun of it is all in these eight cover songs that I really liked or I grew up singing and some of them are just not really your standard covers, so I think that’s kinda fresh for this project. I don’t know, I think it’s gonna be fun. I think people are gonna be like, ‘Damn, you did this, you did that.’ It’s kinda all around.”]

Jon sits inside the Top 25 and climbing on the country charts with his latest single, “Ain’t Always The Cowboy.”

GABBY BARRETT EXPECTING BABY GIRL

Gabby Barrett and her husband, Cade Foehner, are expecting their first child, a baby girl, early next year. The two met as contestants on season 16 of American Idol and tied the knot in October of last year.

Gabby told People.com, “We are very excited. The Lord has blessed us with a little one, and we’re really excited to finally be able to share the news with everybody and just have a big old family celebration about it.”

Gabby learned she was pregnant in May while visiting Cade’s family in Texas.

The couple says that when they’re able to tour again post-pandemic they look forward to having “a family rodeo in a tour bus.”

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer