On Today’s Show

➢ A video game, which is currently being developed, will let you skirt provincial stay-at-home orders while wandering the streets of Toronto as a raccoon.

The creator Jason Leaver a filmmaker by trade started to develop the game in the fist wave of the pandemic and it has a working title of  TRASH PANDA. “It’s garbage night, the raccoon’s favourite night of the week, and you are going to try and knock over as many garbage cans as you can. Sometimes you’ll find food in there, so you’ll get a chance to eat something. And that is the extent of the game thus far. You’re making a mess, and, and hopefully finding some goodies to eat.”

While the game is currently in its beta testing stages with a pending release date, Leaver says he’s already gotten world-wide feedback following gameplay progress posts on his social media accounts.

➢ According to a new study, if you stay in bed for just 14 minutes after your alarm goes off for the first time, it throws off your entire day.

And since most snooze buttons give you nine minutes of peace until the alarm goes off again . . . that means if you hit it twice, you’ve already screwed up your day.

The study also found the day when people hate waking up the most is Monday . . . and Tuesday came in second place. 

➢ A 28-year-old woman in Florida went to a high school and posed as a student . . . to try to get more Instagram followers.  She had a backpack and was carrying a skateboard to try to look younger. She wound up getting arrested for trespassing. 

The security guards saw her and kicked her out . . . and then they called the cops.  The cops used the info from the flyers to figure out who she was, and they went to her house that night and arrested her for trespassing. 

➢ Demi Lovato will try to prove that aliens exist in a new Peacock series called “Unidentified with Demi Lovato“.  It’s a four-part series where Demi, her sister Dallas, and a “skeptical” friend consult with experts, talk to eyewitnesses, uncover “secret government reports,” and conduct tests at known UFO hot spots.  Proving aliens exist is only part of Demi’s agenda. She also hopes to contact and MAKE PEACE with them.  

Check out this audio from a U.S. Navy ship that spotted a “spherical object” flying, and then dropping into the ocean off the coast of San Diego.  (It happened in 2019 and was recently confirmed by the Pentagon.)

TODAY IS……………….

• “Pack Rat Day”, celebrating people who squirrel away all kinds of ‘stuff’. What’s the oddest thing you have that you refuse to throw away? 

• “Walnut Day”, Some Fun Walnut Facts:
  ⇒ Walnuts are the oldest known tree food — they date back to 10,000 BC!
  ⇒ 99% of the commercial U.S. supply and 2/3 of the world trade of walnuts now come from California.
  ⇒ Walnuts have always been considered important for their medicinal properties, including curing bad breath, reducing inflammation, and healing wounds.
  ⇒ More recently, the nutritional benefits of walnuts have become well-known, especially their omega-3 fatty acid content.

1964 [57] The first Tim Horton’s coffee and donut shop opens in Hamilton, Ontario, then co-owned by NHL player Tim Horton (now 4,949 restaurants in 14 countries)

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

1997  Kenny Chesney released “She’s Got It All”, which became Chesney’s first #1. 

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FOUR RANDOM FACTS 

1. There’s one volcano in the world that doesn’t have red or orange lava.  The lava from the Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia is BRIGHT BLUE.

2. Jim Carreyhad the chance to play Captain Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean” but turned it down because it conflicted with his filming schedule for “Bruce Almighty”.

3. “Pong”was never supposed to be released . . . a developer at Atari made it during a training exercise.  But Atari’s founder liked it so much they decided to take it public.

4. Parts of “The Lion King”and “Pocahontas” were animated in North Korea.

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GOOD NEWS 

A surrendered New Jersey shelter dog found a new home and a job as a Pennsylvania police K-9 thanks to the work of local animal rescue groups.

Arrow, a young Belgian Malinois, was handed over to the shelter in February 2020 before joining the ranks of the Police Department, where he became the agency’s first K-9 since the 1960s.

The dog’s path from living in a shelter to police work came from the work of a group which trains service dogs for combat veterans. Shelter staff struggled to find a home for Arrow after two failed attempts at adoptions with other families. 

Arrow was trained for patrol and as a drug scent dog. The officer began working with Arrow full time in September after he spent almost eight months at the shelter.

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BIRTHDAYS 

[65] Bob Saget, actor (“Full House” 1987-1995), TV host “America’s Funniest Home Videos”

[52] Alan Doyle, Petty singer (Great Big Sea)
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SCIENCE NEWS 

1. Cats love boxes, but a new study found they’re drawn to squaresin general, and they don’t have to be 3-D.  If there’s a square shape on the ground, your cat will probably sit on it.  And it even works with optical illusions, when there’s not an actual full square.

2. The Smithsonian announced that an X-Wing spaceshipfrom “Star Wars” is going on display sometime next year.

3. After talking up Dogecoin on “SNL”, Elon Muskannounced SpaceX is sending a satellite “to the moon” next year called Doge-1.  And the company he’s working with is paying for it in Dogecoin.  He also posted a Twitter poll asking if Tesla should let people buy cars with it.  Then he announced they’ll STOP accepting Bitcoin for now, because mining it requires more electricity than other coins.

4. And researchers at Penn think they’ve identified the key gene associated with genetic hearing loss.  And it could eventually lead to a cure for deafness.

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WHY PEOPLE ARE FINDING DRYER SHEETS IN THEIR MAILBOXES 

If you’ve ever found a dryer sheet inside your mailbox during the summer, you’re about to learn why. A postal worker took to Reddit under the username lstrx13, and explained that the dryer sheets are used to keep wasps away. 

The person wrote in part, “…We all know how temperamental these little insects are and merely existing in their presence is enough to piss them off. Last year alone I was stung 10 times on 10 separate occasions. So please, if you one day randomly see a dryer sheet at the back of your mailbox, just know that your carrier more than likely put it there to deter these Satanic creatures from building their home in it.” 

He later updated his post to add, “[Dryer sheets] should only be used as a preventative measure. I’ve never tried when there’s a huge nest so I have no idea if it would work.” Some commenters were impressed with the trick, and another added that the restaurant they are employed by actually puts a few dryer sheets under the tablecloths of outdoor tables to keep yellowjackets out of the guests’ plates. 

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WEEKEND EATING:
So, what did you do on the weekend? Fill your face every chance you had? 

Probably, if this new study is accurate. A survey has found that two-thirds of us use our weekend meals as a “reward” for making it through another work week.

It found that more than two in five (44%) adults say they eat better quality food on weekends than they do Mon.-Fri. And more than half (55%) believe eating can act as a form of therapy. 

The OnePoll survey of 2,000 Americans also revealed that 59% feel too tired at the end of the workday to actually cook anything, perhaps opting for the fast-food drive-thru. 31% admitted they just don’t want to do dishes on a workday.

MONDAY MAY 17TH  

1.   NYI 4 – PIT 3 OT (1-0) MIN 1 – VGK 0 OT (1-0) TBL 5 – FLA 4 (1-0)

Montreal vs Toronto doesn’t start until Thursday

Blue Jays 10  Phillies 8 Cubs 5  Tigers 1

2.   Spencer Silver, the inventor of the adhesive used on the Post-It-Note, passed away last week at 80 years old.  He discovered the breakthrough adhesive in 1968.  (Here’s a clip from “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” where Lisa Kudrow’s character claims she invented the Post-It-Note.)

3.   Do you wish it was summer now?  Well, Ball Park brand hot dogs has a petition going to start summer a whole month earlier than usual.  They even got Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore in on the cause.

4.   Here’s comedian Karen Morgan on how her reactions have changed as she’s gotten older.

No winning ticket was sold for the $40 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw.

That means the jackpot for the next draw TOMORROW will grow to an estimated $50 million, and there will be two Maxmillions prizes of $1 million each up for grabs.

No winning ticket was sold for the $5 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw.

However, the guaranteed $1 million prize went to a lottery player in Quebec. The estimated jackpot for the draw Wednesday will be $6 million. 

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THOMAS RHETT WAS READY TO PLAY ‘SOMEBODY’S BACKYARD’ 

This past weekend, Thomas Rhett played the second of his two-weekend, five-show run at Billy Bob’s Texas. He was thrilled to be back on stage performing for his fans, considering his last live show was on October 12, 2019.

Thomas tells us he was quite desperate to get back on stage. [“I honestly didn’t know when we were gonna play shows again. And when Billy Bob’s came to us and asked if we wanted to do a few nights, I was like, 100%. I mean at this point in time,  I think I would go play anywhere. I would go play somebody’s backyard, I’d go play at my high school’s cafeteria. I just love sitting and playing guitar for people. Any opportunity that raises its hand, that’s something that we can do safely and efficiently, it’s kind of an absolute yes at this point.”] 

Thomas sits inside the Top 20 and climbing with “Country Again,” the second single from his new Country Again: Side A album which was released late last month.

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ALAN JACKSON SAYS THAT ‘ROUGH SPOTS’ IN LIFE LED TO DELAY IN MAKING NEW ALBUM 

Alan Jackson releases his first album of all new music in six years today (Friday, May 14th). The project is called Where Have You Gone, and it includes a whopping 21 songs.

Alan didn’t intend to wait so long in between albums, but along the way he and his family suffered some big losses, including that of his mother and his son-in-law, which really affected him. He tells us: [“For several years there I really didn’t feel like writing at all and recording, and last spring I was ready, and we booked studio time and then the virus thing hit and everything kind of came to a halt, and then later in the summer I called Keith Stegall, my producer, and said, ‘Hey, man, I’m tired of waiting on this thing. Let’s just do it,’ so we decided to go ahead and get everybody in the studio whether they had to wear a mask or a helmet or whatever they had to wear to get in there and cut this thing (laughs).”] 

Where Have You Gone is Alan’s first studio album since 2015’s Angels and Alcohol.

He is set to perform tonight on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

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DARIUS RUCKER RELEASES VIDEO FOR ‘MY MASTERPIECE’ 

Darius Rucker released the official music video for his latest single, “My Masterpiece,” last night (Thursday, May 13th) on his Facebook page where he also interacted live with fans in the comments.

He said of the song, which he co-wrote, “The song is about a guy who really just wants to be known for the tremendous amount of love he has for this woman, and I think that’s beautiful. During a tough time like this past year has been, I think upbeat songs like this are important because they remind people that even when things are tough, there’s also a lot of good in life and good in the world.”

Darius will appear as a guest panelist on the semi-finals of Fox’s hit show The Masked Singer on Wednesday (May 19th), helping to guess the identities of the remaining contestants and the show’s mysterious “Cluedle-Doo,” the masked celebrity who has been offering additional hints about each contestant in a new addition to the show for Season 5.

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer