On Today’s Show

➢ In Toronto the pandemic has brought residents closer to their local wildlife and the interactions have not always gone well. Public health authorities say there has been a 62% increase in reports of people being scratched or bitten by raccoons. Calls to Toronto Animal Services about sick or injured raccoons more than tripled year-on-year to over 13,000 in 2020. Authorities say raccoons aren’t getting more aggressive, but people staying home or taking more walks in their neighborhoods are encountering sick animals and getting bitten when they try to deal with them themselves. Some people have also been bitten or scratched when petting or feeding wild raccoons, which authorities strongly advise against. 

➢ A stuntman in Chatsworth, California sat in a pool of bean dip for 24 hours as a stunt to save his favorite Mexican restaurant from going under during the pandemic.  

➢ The pandemic has been a tough time for everyone, especially when it comes to dealing with whomever you live with during lockdown. One man who was wanted by authorities was apparently so sick of his housemates that he turned himself into police. Sussex Police in the UK say the man indicated “he would rather go back to prison than have to spend more time with the people he was living with.” The man, who hasn’t been identified, surrendered at the police station after deciding to haul himself off to jail to get some “peace and quiet”. 

➢Here’s someone who lives near the North Pole explaining all the prep it takes just to go on a walk with her dog.  Listen to her talk about it, here.  (She wears several layers of clothes, a down jacket, and a headlamp.  The dog has to wear blankets and a high-visible vest with lights so she can always see it.  And because there are polar bears, she has to bring a RIFLE outside “at all times.”)

➢ A keyboardist posts videos of himself on TikTok playing songs that match up with sounds real animals are making.  A howling cat is turned into a sad song . . . while another cat warbles a waltz.  Then there’s the monkey, whose shrieks make for a very bizarre tune.

TODAY IS……………….

• “St Patrick’s Day”, the Irish national holiday that began as a ‘solemn religious observance’ to honor St Patrick (389-461 AD), patron saint of Ireland. It’s a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland & Labrador. Some fast facts …
  – It’s been an Irish holiday for 1,500 years.– It was first celebrated in Canada in 1765 in Québec City QC.
  – Since 1965, the Chicago River has been dyed green for the “Chicago St Patrick’s Parade”, an idea conceived when a plumber was observed using green dye to trace leaks from a building.
  – Green is associated with “St Patrick’s Day” because it’s the color of Spring, Ireland, and the shamrock.

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

Jo Dee Messina‘s sophomore album, I’m Alright, was released in 1998.

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Dictionary.com Adds Two Words from “The Simpsons” and One from “Friends”

Three imaginary words your favorite TV shows made up in the mid ’90s are now an ACTUAL part of the English language.

Dictionary.com just updated its database with lots of new words, including two from “The Simpsons” and one from “Friends”.  Because if people repeat made-up words enough, over time they turn into real words.

The two words from “The Simpsons” are from an episode in 1996 called “Lisa the Iconoclast”.  They are “cromulent,” which is defined as “acceptable or legitimate” . . . and “embiggen,” which is defined as “to make or become bigger.”

The word from “Friends” is “supposably,” which comes from an episode in 1995 called “The One Where Heckles Dies”.  The definition is “as may be assumed, imagined, or supposed.”

And they aren’t the first dictionary to validate these words either.  “Embiggen” is already in Webster’s . . . and all three are in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Some of the other words Dictionary.com added in this new update include doomscrolling . . . deepfake . . . indoor voice . . . BIPOC . . . superspreader . . . and goldendoodle. 

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FOUR RANDOM ST. PATRICK’S FACTS 

1. St. Patrick wasn’t Irish. He was actually British, born to Roman parents in Wales.
2. Although he is given credit for driving the snakes out of Ireland, fossil records show that the country has never been home to any snakes.
3. The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland has a 6,000-year lease.
4. Until the 1970s, St. Patrick’s Day was a religious occasion, and thus a dry holiday where the only alcohol available was at the national dog show.

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GOOD NEWS 

A North Carolina man’s wrong turn on his way to a job site led him to a $250,000 lottery jackpot. Kevin Vaughn and a coworker took a wrong turn and ended up stopping for breakfast. 

Vaughn ordered a bacon and egg biscuit and bought a pair of $5 “20X the Cash” scratch-off tickets, which earned him a $10 prize while waiting for his food. 

He used his $10 to buy two more of the tickets on his way out, and while eating his biscuit in the truck he scratched off a $250,000 prize. 

Vaughn said his winnings will allow him to pay off his bills and find a larger home for his family. 

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BIRTHDAYS 

[72] Patrick Duffy, actor (“Dallas” 1978-1991, “Step by Step” 1991-98)

[70] Kurt Russell, actor 

[66] Gary Sinise, actor 

[57] Rob Lowe, actor 

[48] Keifer Thompson, country singer (Thompson Square)

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Grandma Chases Down and Tackles a Purse Snatcher . . 

This guy tried to rob the WRONG old lady.

Last month, a guy in Queensland, Australia stole an elderly woman’s purse while she was inside a bar.

And when he tried to run away with it . . . she chased him down, tackled him, fought him for the purse, ripped off his shirt, and actually got the purse back.

We know all this from a security camera that caught the entire thing.  And the video was just released.

In the end, the woman walked away with her purse and the guy fled the scene in a truck with his shirt in his hand.

There’s no word on whether the cops have tracked him down. 

Guy Stole a Playground Slide and Attached It to His Kid’s Bunk Bed

If this guy had just done this LEGALLY, he’d be the coolest dad ever.  Instead, he’s going to jail . . 

Cops recently raided the home of 30-year-old Dustin Bushnell in Burbank, Washington.  (About 200 miles southeast of Seattle, right near the Oregon border.)

And they were looking for a bunch of catalytic converters he’s accused of stealing off people’s cars.  Which they DID find . . . but they also found something else.

As they were searching his home, they walked into his kid’s bedroom . . . and saw a massive, 400-pound PLAYGROUND SLIDE attached to the kid’s bunk bed.

The slide went missing from a park in December after someone sawed it off of a piece of playground equipment. 

They’re still building a case for the stolen car parts, but they arrested Dustin on the spot for the slide.  He’s facing charges for possession of stolen property. 

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WOMAN PRAISED FOR HER REVENGE ON CO-WORKER AFTER HE STOLE HER LUNCH 

A tweet has gone viral that someone shared to show how their mom handled it when someone stole her lunch at work. He explained that his mom keeps raw eggs in a carton in the work refrigerator that she cooks at the office if she gets hungry, and someone recently stole her carton. So the next day she brought in a note that read:

“ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I HAD A CARTON OF EGGS IN THE FRIDGE AND ITS GONE! WHO EVER TOOK THE EGGS PLEASE KNOW THAT THOSE EGGS ARE NOT CHICKEN EGGS AND ARE NOT MEANT FOR CONSUMPTION IF YOU HAVE NOT CONSUMED THEM PLEASE DISCARD BUT IF YOU HAVE PLEASE SEE ME FOR THE ANTIDOTE. THEY ARE EGGS FROM A RARE BIRD IN AFRICA. THANK YOU!”

The Twitter added, “Later some dude came to her freaking out for the antidote thinking he was going to die.” 

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IRISH SUPERSTITIONS:
➢ To counteract the bad luck from black cat crossing your path, make a triangle shape with your thumbs and forefingers and spit at the cat through the hole. This also works when you accidentally walk under a ladder.

➢ If you find a horseshoe and nail it to the door, it will bring good luck. This will not work if the shoe is bought or given as a gift by someone else.

➢ Handing someone a knife is bad luck. Always put it on the table in front of them. 

➢ If the palm of your hand itches, you’re going to come into some money.

➢ If your nose is itchy, you are going to have a fight with the person nearest to you. To remedy this, punch them in the arm and shake their hand.

➢ If you get your shirt wet while washing the dishes, you will marry a drunk

WEDNESDAY MARCH 17TH  

1.   NJD 3 – BUF 2 WSH 3 – NYI 1 BOS 2 – PIT 1 DET 4 – CAR 2 

MIN 3 – ARI 0 TBL 4 – DAL 3 SO COL 8 – ANA 4

2. A guy in New Hampshire named William Rogers wasice skating alone on Sunday when he fell through the ice.  So he used his Apple Watch to call 911.   Firefighters showed up five minutes later and saved his life.

3.   A woman who worked at a large hotel chain has a hack to get a free upgrade.  Download the hotel’s app, and then send a message the day before you check-in asking for a room with a good view, or a balcony.  They’ll probably upgrade you for free because they want to encourage people to use the app.  You can listen to her talk about it, here.  (It starts with her telling you to NOT use booking sites like Trivago or Expedia.)

4.   Here’s comedian Ray Romano on taking his daughter to college, and why she’s “the good one.”  (From his 2019 Netlix special “Right Here Around the Corner”.)

• George Strait, Miranda Lambert and Willie Nelson – All 3 Texas natives are in the lineup for Matthew McConaughey’s “We’re Texas” virtual benefit concert on March 21. It will help Texans impacted by the winter storms last month. It will also feature performances from Don Henley, Gary Clark Jr., Kelly Clarkson, Khalid, Leon Bridges, Lukas Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Post Malone and more.

• Kelsea Ballerini – once splurged on a very expensive bottle of wine for Shania Twain – even though she couldn’t afford it. On “Live With Kelly and Ryan”, Ballerini said: “She invited me to sing with her when she headlined Stagecoach (Festival) like, 4 years ago and I was brand new and still super broke. I knew she loved wine so I splurged and bought her a bottle of Opus One…as a thank you.”
• Granger Smith – He and his wife Amber are expecting a baby boy who’s due just over 2 years after the death of their 3-year-old son. The couple’s third child, River, died in a drowning accident at their home in Texas in June, 2019.

LUKE BRYAN CHARTS 26TH NUMBER ONE HIT 

Luke Bryan scores his 26th chart-topping hit this week with his latest single, “Down to One.” The song was co-written by Luke’s good friend Dallas Davidson, and is from his latest album, Born Here, Live Here, Die Here.

Luke tells us he knew the song would be a hit. [“‘Down To One’ is a real like typical song of mine that you kind of expect from me from the years. First time I heard it — it’s written by one of my dear friends Dallas Davidson who I’ve had a lot of success with as a co-writer with through the years — it just sounds like a big ole hit. Guy and a girl out there, in the middle of nowhere enjoying a moment together, a romantic moment, and I always feel like you gotta have those on an album.”] 

Luke will release the deluxe version of Born Here, Live Here, Die Here featuring six new songs on April 9th.  Luke is nominated for both Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year for Born Here, Live Here, Die Here at this year’s ACM Awards  April 18th beginning at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

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MIRANDA LAMBERT SHARES RARE LOOK AT PERSONAL LIFE IN ‘SETTLING DOWN’ VIDEO 

The video for Miranda Lambert‘s latest hit, “Settling Down,” gives viewers a rare glimpse at the singer’s personal life with her husband, Brendan, at their Nashville area farm. She tells us: [“I think the idea for the video was just to show a little behind the scenes. I’m not one of these people that usually puts my personal life out there too much, but I think it’s a good way to do that through my music and I feel like I needed to you know let people a little bit behind the scenes and see that I’m actually really happy, and healthy, and in love and you know I got a good thing going.”] 

“Settling Down” is a Top 20 hit and climbing on the country charts.

On Sunday (March 14th), Miranda took home the award for Best Country Album for Wildcard at the Grammy Awards. “Settling Down” is the third single from that album.

BRAD PAISLEY, ERIC CHURCH TO PERFORM ON GRAMMY SPECIAL 

Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Chris Stapleton and LeAnn Rimes will be part of A Grammy Salute to the Sounds of Change, an all-genre television special airing on March 17th on CBS at 9 p.m. ET. The two-hour show will highlight some of the iconic songs that have helped enact social change throughout history.

CLINT BLACK LAUNCHING OWN LINE OF COFFEE 

Clint Black is launching Clint Black Cowboy Coffee, which will be available online at ClintBlackCoffee.com. The java is dark roast ground and roasted in his home state of Texas.

He said, “It all started as a great gift idea for friends and family at Christmas time. The reaction turned from ‘thanks’ to ‘where can I get more?’”

Clint will perform as part of Matthew McConaughey‘s We’re Texas virtual benefit concert on March 21st at 7pm CT via Matthew’s YouTube channel. The event helps Texans recovering from February’s winter storm. Others participating include George Strait, Miranda Lambert, 

Kacey Musgraves, Parker McCollum, Don Henley, and Post Malone, to name a few.

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer