On Today’s Show

March 12, 2021 9:35 am Published by

➢The inventor of cassette tapes has passed away at age 94.  Lou Ottens and his team of engineers debuted the first compact cassette tape in 1963, but it didn’t truly catch on until the ’70s and ’80s.  It was actually created for making sound recordings outside, because it was much more portable than reel-to-reel machines.  But once they realized the quality was good enough for music listening, they started putting albums on them. Over 100 billion were sold worldwide.

He’s also credited with helping develop the first CDs.  (Here’s a clip from the trailer for “Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape.”  He starts talking halfway through.) 

 

➢ This happened last Saturday but the video’s making the rounds now.  A former college football player named Nicholas Lee helped rescue a woman who was stuck inside the cab of a truck that overturned on a highway near Sacramento.

He crawled inside the cab, helped free her leg, and then started kicking and punching the windshield until the hole was big enough for him to squeeze through. Then he reached back inside and helped the woman get out.

 

➢ A little advice for all of you fugitives out there… don’t come out of hiding to buy your favorite video game!  Escaped convict, Clint Butler, broke out of prison in November and was caught by police when he came out of hiding to buy the new “Call of Duty” video game.  You can hear police approach Butler and the altercation that ensued after. 

 

➢ Netflix is testing a verification system that could be part of a crackdown on password-sharing.  Some people are getting an onscreen message that prompts them to enter a code that’s sent to the account holder.  But for now, you’re also given the option to continue watching and “verify later.”  

But for people who are INTENTIONALLY sharing passwords, it just means that you’d occasionally also have to share codes, which could be tolerable, unless they force you to verify every time people sign in from different locations. By the way, a LOT of people share streaming accounts.

A recent survey of over 1,500 Americans found that nearly 40% of Americans are mooching off of someone else’s streaming account, and about 33% do so without permission from the account holder.

TODAY IS……………….

  • “Girl Scout Day”, celebrating the creation of the first Girl Scout group (originally ‘Girl Guides’) on March 12, 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah GA, who gathered together a troop of 18 girls and taught them how to milk a cow, tie up a burglar, and the complicated art of boiling water.

SUNDAY-
• “Daylight Saving Time” in North America begins at 2 am. The annual ‘Spring Forward’ is now programmed right into computers, phones, and other electronic devices. 

 

✓ The Germans and their allies were the first to implement Daylight Saving Time as a way of conserving coal during WW1. Britain and many other European countries followed.

✓ The US adopted DST in 1918, but it wasn’t until 1966 that the whole country observed it (except Hawaii and most of Arizona). All Canadian provinces were on DST by the 1970s, except most of Saskatchewan. More recently, Canada’s Yukon Territory has moved to remain on DST year-round, and many Canadian provinces and US states are considering similar moves. _____________________________________________________________________________

 

COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

The soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? went quintuple-platinum in 2002.

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The Top COVID Precautions We’ve Stopped Taking 

According to a new poll, 42% of people say the pandemic has turned them into a “germaphobe.”  And we now wash our hands an average of nine times a day.

We’ve relaxed about some stuff though.  People were asked to name things they did at the start of the pandemic but DON’T do anymore.  Here are the top answers . . .

 

  1.  Changing your clothes as soon as you get home.  Half of us who did it early in the pandemic have stopped.
  2. Sanitizing your groceries.  48% don’t do it anymore.
  3. Sanitizing packages or mail, 44%.
  4. Carrying hand sanitizer at all times.  31% have relaxed about it.
  5. Immediately washing fruits and vegetables when you get home from the store, 29%.
  6. Constantly washing your hands, even if you haven’t gone anywhere, 29%.
  7. Doing everything you can to avoid touching stuff when you’re out, 23%.
  8. Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds.  18% have relaxed about it. 

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IF WE GOT RID OF DAYLIGHT-SAVING TIME:
➢ Better sleep:  It takes five to seven days to adjust to the new time schedule, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and that disruption in sleep can lead to even bigger health issues. (And if you have young kids, you know it takes them even longer…like until the next time change!)

➢ Reduced risk of heart attack and stroke:  DST changes are associated with a 24% increase in heart attacks and 8% increase in strokes on the Monday following the change. (So don’t make me deal with [afternoon guy] today!)

➢ Cost savings:  Experts estimate the time change costs the United States around $430 million every year. The increase in heart attacks, workplace injuries, and lowered productivity all account for the added costs. (Plus, the time it takes to change all those clocks?)

➢ Fewer auto accidents:  The clock change is associated with an increase in fatal auto accidents on the Monday following the spring change. This is perhaps because of drivers who are tired after losing an hour of sleep. (That or they’re trying to adjust the car clock…!)

➢ Changing crime rates:  Research has found that crime rates go down by 27% percent with the additional evening hour of sunlight gained on the day after the time change in the spring. But another study found that with the extra hour gained in the fall, assault rates were up by 3% percent on the Monday following the time change.

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GOOD NEWS 

A stray puppy who went unwanted in a shelter saved the life of an elderly man who finally gave it a chance. 

 

The 18-month-old dog, named Jack, woke up 66-year-old owner Tom Braun after noticing he’d begun choking in his sleep at his Eugene, Oregon, home earlier this month. 

 

Braun was stunned to wake up and find his T-shirt covered with his own blood, and realized a blood vessel had burst following previous dental work. Braun spent the next 48 hours in hospital, while next door neighbor Eli Holmes cared for Jack. 

 

Braun has sung Jack’s praises and advised anyone who is older and lives alone to get their own dog to help keep them safe. 

 

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BIRTHDAYS 

[75] Liza Minnelli, singer/stage & movie actress (Oscar-“Cabaret”)/youngest Tony Award winner (19)/daughter of legendary singer-actress Judy Garland

 

[53] Aaron Eckhart, actor (“The Rum Diary”, ‘Two-Face’ in “The Dark Knight”) COMING UP…”Ambush”

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ZOMBIE READY

Back in the 16th century the French astrologer Nostradamus predicted there would be a zombie apocalypse in the year 2021. As such, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its Zombie Preparedness section on its website. 

 

The section was originally launched back in 2011, and the CDC makes it clear it’s a joke, but also uses it as a means to give people real, important disaster preparedness guidance. For example, one blog post lists out exactly what you need to have stashed at home, in case of a zombie apocalypse (that could also help in the event of other disasters.) 

 

In case you were wondering, they recommend one gallon of water per person, per day, and first-aid supplies, but they add, “although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane.” Lee Clarke, a sociology professor at Rutgers notes, “Zombies are just more interesting, and it draws people in.” 

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FOUR RANDOM FACTS 

  1. The most valuable stamp in the world is a one-cent 1856 British Guiana stamp.  It sold at an auction a few years ago for $9.5 million.

 

  1. Hawaii’s state fish is the humuhumunukunukuapua’a.  (Pronounced hoo moo hoo moo noo koo noo koo ah poo ah ah.)

 

  1. The Magic 8-Ball failed when it first came out in the 1940s because it wasn’t an 8-ball . . . it was just a regular ball called the Syco-Seer.  But a billiards company in Cincinnati commissioned a line of them that looked like 8-balls and they took off.

 

  1. About 75% of the tornados in the world happen in the U.S.

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FRIDAY MARCH 12TH  

 

  1.   BOS 4 – NYR 0 PIT 5 – BUF 2 NYI 5 – NJD 3 WSH 5 – PHI 3 CAR 5 – NSH 1 FLA 5 – CBJ 4 OT TOR 4 – WPG 3 OT DET 6 – TBL 4 CHI 4 – DAL 2 CGY 2 – MTL 1

 

  1.   People from other states have beenflocking to Miami Beach to get away from the cold weather.  And after all the partying that happened last year during COVID, the mayor wants spring breakers to know they can’t just do whatever they want.

 

  1.   A Chick-fil-A employee in Wisconsin named Haley Bridges recently wona new car in a raffle, and then gave it to a co-worker who only had a bike and needed it more.  

 

  1.   Here’s comedian Paul F. Tompkins on people who are bothered by Daylight Saving Time.

 

We Shift from ‘Work Mode’ to ‘Weekend Mode’ at 2:52 P.M. on Friday

Will your workweek really end at five today?  Or will you try to get a jump on it?

A new survey found the average person shifts from ‘work mode’ to ‘weekend mode’ at 2:52 P.M. on Friday.  That’s when our focus moves from work to weekend plans.

 

  1. 1 in 7 people say they always try to finish work early on Fridays.

 

  1. Over 60% of us think it’s important to have something to look forward to on Fridays, especially this past year.

 

  1. 38% appreciate weekends more than ever.

 

  1. 45% have made a bigger effort to make Friday nights “family night” during the pandemic.  The top activities we plan with them are movie nights and family dinners.

 

  1. For 1 in 6 people, it won’t truly feel like the weekend until they’ve had their first drink. 

Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton Are Co-Hosting the ACMs

Here’s some great news to kick off the weekend.  KEITH URBAN and MICKEY GUYTON will be co-hosting next month’s ACMs, and that’s historic.  She’ll be the first black woman to host the show.

They posted video of Keith calling and asking her to join him.  Her answer?  Quote, “Yes.  Do I have a pulse?  Of course.”  Here’s what she added in a statement. 

Quote, “The ACMs [have] always been a home for me through opportunities both onstage and throughout their work on diversity and inclusion.  This is a moment of great significance for me and I’m thrilled to share it with all the fans.”

Keith hosted the show last fall, and you may recall him playing piano during Mickey’s performance of “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”.  The producers said that’s when they realized the two of them “would make a perfect hosting duo.”

The “56th Academy of Country Music Awards” will air April 18th on CBS. 

 

 

DAN + SHAY VIE FOR GRAMMY AWARD THIS WEEKEND 

Dan + Shay are nominees at the Grammy Awards on Sunday (March 14th) in Los Angeles. The duo, along with their friend Justin Bieber, are up for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their hit, “10,000 Hours.”

Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney and Justin Bieber are all co-writers on the song, which Dan tells us was inspired by the ladies in their lives. [“’10,000 Hours’ is about spending a lifetime learning and loving your significant other. This song is extra special to Shay and I because we wrote it about our beautiful wives, Abby and Hannah, and it was fun to collaborate with our good buddy Justin Bieber on this, because he’s in the same boat.”] 

The Grammy Awards will air live on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

 

 

BRAD PAISLEY NEW SINGLE 

Brad Paisley‘s new single, called “Off Road,” was inspired by the powerful and driven women of the world. Brad tells us that a few women in particular come to mind when thinking about this song. [“It’s really about female empowerment and the way that women will bust through road blocks. You can’t keep a country girl down, she is just going to go off the beaten path and do the thing she needs to do to change this world. It’s about trailblazers, and when I think of this song I think of people like Dolly Parton and Carrie Underwood and Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn and just the strong, long list of females that blazed their paths. This is for them.”] 

Brad co-wrote “Off Road” with Ross Copperman and Lee Miller. The song will be included on an upcoming project.

 

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This post was written by Dave Palmer