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DATEBOOK: JUNE 23, 2020
BIRTHDAYS
• Former American Idol judge Randy Jackson is 64
• Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) is 63
• Director Josh Whedon (The Avengers) is 56
• Selma Blair is 48
• Joel Edgerton is 46
• Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) is 40
IT HAPPENED TODAY
• 1868: Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer”.
• 1888: Frederick Douglass becomes the first African-American nominated for US president.
• 1926: The College Board administered the first SAT exam.
• 1931: Aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane.
• 1991: Sonic the Hedgehog was released in the U.S. and Europe.
• 1992: John Gotti, convicted of racketeering charges, was sentenced in New York to life in prison.
• 1993: Lorena Bobbitt of Prince William County, Virginia, sexually mutilated her husband, John, after he allegedly raped her.
• 2005: In Suffolk, Virginia, three guys walked into a McDonald’s with the intention of robbing it. The place was rather busy so they ordered several burgers and enjoyed their meals while waiting for the crowd to thin out. They then robbed the place and made their getaway. Unfortunately, they left behind an important piece of evidence: their DNA on the leftover portions of the burgers.
• 2012: 76 monks were hospitalized in Thailand following an attack by a swarm of bees.
• 2015: Amazon.com joined eBay and others in removing Confederate flag items from its site after the shooting of nine African American church members.
SPECIAL EVENTS
• Widows’ Day
• Let It Go Day
• Eat At A Food Truck Day
• Runner’s Selfie Day
• Pecan Sandy Day
NUMBER FOR THE DAY
5,800: Pounds of raisins eaten each week in the U.S.
NEWS ATTACK!
A new study shows that prolonged sitting can lead to anxiety disorders. [Suddenly, everything in your life seems like one big pain in the butt.]
A study finds that kids who lie well also have superior verbal memories. [That’s poor consolation if you’re a parent. That’s like being told that your kid is a shoplifter but don’t worry because that means that he has superior manual dexterity.]
Obesity experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say children should get an hour of exercise every day. [The bad news is, the list of approved exercises does not include running your mouth, throwing a fit, or pounding a keyboard.]
Coronavirus case trends are on the rise in half of the U.S. [America: #1 in blockbuster movies; #1 in hot dog eating contests; and #1 in pandemic deaths.]
An update to the Apple Watch will remind you if you’ve not washed your hands for a full 20 seconds. [Now if it would only tell me when I left my fly down.]
The Hubble space telescope has spotted a galaxy about 50 million light-years from Earth. [Or roughly the distance I will sit away from other people when we start going back to movie theaters.]
The 2021 Golden Globes will be delayed a couple of months due to COVID-19. [Put another way, Tom Hanks will have to wait until late February to pick up another trophy.]
NEWS & NUGGETS
CORONAVIRUS LEADS TO THE CREATION OF HAUNTED DRIVE-IN _ The pandemic will likely change how haunted houses work in 2020. In Japan, where Halloween has really caught on the last ten years or so, a company in Tokyo has created what they say is the world’s first drive-in haunted house. Well, technically it’s a haunted garage. According to the event’s provided backstory: “This is a garage where a horrible incident occurred long ago. Now people say that if you park your car inside and honk your horn three times, something will happen.” Additional story details will play over your car’s radio while you’re parked inside (sort of like the system used for sound at drive-in movie theaters), and while the specifics remain shrouded in mystery, it seems a given that at some point zombies, ghosts, or some other class of the undead will pay you a not-so-friendly visit.
… All guests must be inside a vehicle, and admission pricing is $75, which covers everyone inside the car. Each session is approximately 20 minutes long.
… Guests who give their prior consent can also leave with their vehicle “redecorated” by the zombies.
HERE COMES CHRISTMAS _ Just a warning: Come Thursday you’ll have six months to shop for Christmas.
MAN DIES AFTER FAMILY ALLEGEDLY UNPLUGS VENTILATOR TO SWITCH ON AIR CONDITIONER _ A 40-year-old Indian man tragically lost his life after his visiting family allegedly unplugged the ventilator keeping him alive. Normally the hospital would have been running its air conditioning system, but to prevent the spread of COVID-19 it had been shut off. To keep cool during their visit, the man’s family brought and plugged in a portable AC unit. When the man’s family tried to plug in the air conditioner, they noticed that there were no available power outlets. Without bothering to consult with hospital staff, they unplugged the ventilator and plugged in the AC instead. If the ventilator had stopped working at that point, they would have probably panicked and plugged in back in, but seeing that the device continued to function they didn’t even inform the nurses about it. Little did the sick man’s relatives know that the backup battery of the ventilator would soon run out, leaving the patient unable to breathe. When the alarm went off, hospital staff rushed to save the man, giving him CPR, but it was too late.
HOME PROJECT LISTS AVERAGE SIX ITEMS _ A new survey finds the average person has six home repairs or updates on their to-do list — and to complete just the top three would require an average of $680 combined.
… Those with home improvement experience reveal the average repair has three things go wrong.
… More than six in ten homeowners turn to search engines, YouTube or helpful apps to get their repairs and updates done.
BUD LIGHT WILL GIVE CITY FREE SELTZER IF IT CHANGES NAME TO FLAVORTOWN _ Columbus resident Tyler Woodbridge is calling for the city of Columbus, Ohio to permanently change its name to Flavortown. Originally named for Christopher Columbus, Tyler (and many others) are hoping the town gets renamed in honor of one of their more iconic people to ever call Columbus home — Guy Fieri, who was born there in 1968. Here is Woodbridge’s reasoning: “Columbus is an amazing city, but one whose name is tarnished by the very name itself. Its namesake, Christopher Columbus, is in The Bad Place because of all his raping, slave trading, and genocide. That’s not exactly a proud legacy. Why not rename the city Flavortown? The new name is twofold. For one, it honors Central Ohio’s proud heritage as a culinary crossroads and one of the nation’s largest test markets for the food industry. Secondly, cheflebrity Guy Fieri was born in Columbus, so naming the city in honor of him (he’s such a good dude, really) would be superior to its current nomenclature.” • LINK
… And Bud Light is even getting into the mix. Bud promised to the hook up the entire city with free Bud Light Hard Seltzer if they actually come through and make it happen.
HUSBAND OVERHEARS WIFE OF 20 YEARS SAY SHE ‘SETTLED’ FOR HIM _ After weathering 20 years together, it is safe to assume you’d feel safe in a relationship with someone. However, one husband harshly learned that his wife might not have been as happy as he thought she had been after he overheard a conversation she was having with a friend. Now the husband and father of two adult children wants a divorce, but people are thinking he’s seriously taking it too far. The man shared on reddit: “I genuinely thought we were in love … until I overheard her on the phone recently remarking to a friend that she feels she settled for me and thinks about her ex every day. Her exact words: ‘I feel like I settled for him… I love him but he doesn’t excite me the way Tom did. Sometimes I wish Tom had been serious with me.'”
… The husband wrote on reddit: “Tom is her ex who she dated on and off before she met me. I always thought she was done with him because she told me that he ‘meant nothing to her’ because he refused to seriously commit but hearing this all these years later broke my heart.” In that moment, the husband knew in his heart that it was over.
… The man says, “I told her I overheard her and that it’s over. She broke down in hysterics saying it wasn’t what it looked like.” Reddit users were a little divided over how the husband should handle it.
8-YEAR-OLD BRIDGE PLAYER BECOMES YOUNGEST LIFE MASTER _ An California boy has become the youngest bridge player to ever be awarded the title of Life Master by the world’s largest organization dedicated to the card game. The American Contract Bridge League said Andrew Chen of San Jose was granted the title of Life Master just three days after his eighth birthday. The organization said it normally takes players decades to accumulate 500 masterpoints by playing at tournaments and accredited clubs, but Andrew was able to earn his points in just two years by participating in local games and playing online.
… Andrew said he is drawn to the puzzle-solving element of bridge: “Every bridge hand is like a puzzle to solve. I like working things out.”
🎧 APPLE WATCH WILL MAKE SURE YOU’RE WASHING YOUR HANDS FOR THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TIME _ A new feature for the Apple Watch can detect when you’re washing your hands. Apple revealed the newest update for Watch on Monday.
… Once it senses you’re washing your hands, the Apple Watch will set a timer for 20 seconds, the amount of time the CDC recommends you wash to avoid spreading germs.
NOSTRILS CAN DETECT ODORS INDEPENDENTLY FROM ONE ANOTHER _ A study has concluded that nostrils can detect odors independently from one another and can subconsciously guide you to the source of a smell. Researchers from China found that applying different strengths of odor to people’s nostrils subtly impacted their perception of visually-simulated movement. The findings prove that, even if we are not conscious of it, our sense of smell works ‘in stereo’ — just like our vision and hearing does using our pairs of eyes and ears.
… The researchers found that a stronger concentration of odor in one nostril consistently biased the participants towards thinking that they were moving in that direction — despite being unable to report which side received the stronger smell.
WOMEN PREFER MEN WITHOUT CATS _ Single men who are hoping to land a girlfriend may want to keep images of their cats out of their dating profile, or so suggests a new study. Colorado State University researchers showed photos of two men — posed with and without a cat — to hundreds of women and found that when the man’s feline companion was in the picture, they were viewed “as less masculine; more neurotic, agreeable, and open; and less dateable.”
… Around 38% of women shown a cat-free photo of one subject said they were likely to date him and 37% said they would consider a serious relationship — but this dropped to 33% for both casual and serious dating when they were shown a picture of the same man holding a cat. The percentage saying they would never consider going out with him rose from 9% to 14% when the cat was in the photo.
… With the second subject, the percentage of women saying they wouldn’t go out with him rose from 40% to 45% after they saw him with the cat.
LEGO IS THE WORLD’S MOST LOVED BRAND _ A social analytics company (Talkwalker) has just released its list of the world’s most loved brands. At the top is Lego, the toy that sells seven sets a second and has made enough of those multicolored interlocking bricks for every person on planet Earth to have 80 of them.
… The list of the world’s most love brands doesn’t include companies we all know. The social analytics company that did the study took to forums, social media channels, news sites and blogs in search of postings and discussions about brands — 718 brands and 750 million mentions.
… Which is why, while Lego landed on top, the list also includes The Container Store, Four Seasons Hotels, Tiger Beer, Vertex (which makes cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta), Vroot (an international competitor to Netflix), and Bimbo (a Mexican bakery chain).
STUDY FINDS THE WORLD HAS ACTUALLY GROWN MORE PEACEFUL IN RECENT TIMES _ In these modern times, it seems like there’s a whole lot to feel negative about. Between pandemics, protests, and political vitriol, 2020 is creating more pessimists by the day. Well, if you’re looking for a bit of good news regarding the world we are living in, researchers from the University of York have a piece of positivity. According to their calculations, the world as a whole is much more peaceful over the past 30 years in comparison to the first half of the twentieth century. Of course, 1910-1950 was marred by two extraordinarily violent world wars. Since then, the global death rate has continued to steadily drop.
… The researchers say the change for the better detected over the past 30 years may be due to peacekeeping work by global organizations like the UN and increased collaboration and cooperation between nations.
NASCAR DRIVERS OFFER BUBBA WALLACE SHOW OF SUPPORT _ NASCAR drivers, pit crew members and others walked alongside Bubba Wallace and escorted his Number 43 car in a show of support at the Talladega Superspeedway on Monday a day after a noose was found in his garage. In a video tweeted by a NASCAR executive, Wallace’s car is being followed and pushed down pit row by a large procession of people. Wallace, wearing an American flag face mask, was emotional while hugging drivers and supporters, including NASCAR legend Richard Petty. The race was set to begin Monday afternoon in Lincoln, Alabama, after rain Sunday delayed the event by a day.
… The discovery of the noose Sunday afternoon in Wallace’s garage stall comes as the nation more squarely addresses America’s systemic racism in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. Wallace, the only Black driver in NASCAR’s top circuit, has been an outspoken advocate of the Black Lives Matter movement and the corresponding protests against racism and police brutality. He wore an “I Can’t Breathe” shirt before one event, repainted his car with the “Black Lives Matter” phrase and pushed NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag.
WHY IT FEELS LIKE THERE ARE A LOT MORE FIREWORKS THIS YEAR _ It would seem America is awash in small-scale fireworks displays. Why? There appear to be a number of factors at work. One is that people are spending more time at home, with more opportunity to notice things. For similar reasons, cities are quieter in general, which makes noises more noticeable. Kids have been stuck at home for months unable to attend school or hang out with friends in normal ways, and fireworks are a fun way to pass the time.
… Just when there’s more potential interest in creating random, unauthorized fireworks displays, there’s extra inventory due to the cancellation of many July Fourth fireworks shows.
… And it’s certainly possible that enforcement of fireworks rules has gotten less vigorous — perhaps as a natural consequence of police power being stretched thin.
WIFE CARRYING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2020 HAS BEEN CANCELED _ If ESPN was counting on the Wife Carrying World Championship to get them through a couple of hours of July programming, there’s some bad news: the annual feats-of-strength event held in Finland has been canceled for 2020.
… The event entices representatives from around the world to compete in groups of three couples at a time around a sand track-filled obstacle course, which includes a deep water pool. The Wife Carrying Championship last year attracted 80 competitors that headed to the small town of Sonkajärvi, Finland. The rules say that entrants must carry their wives or their neighbors. The designated ‘wife’ has to be at least 17 years old and weighs in at a minimum of 108 pounds. If the designated ‘wife’ is lighter, she must carry a weighted rucksack, given to her by officials.
… For this great feat of strength, the world champions win the equivalent of the wife’s weight in beer, a bag full of wife-carrying merchandise, and an official statue.
… Australia, the UK, USA, India, Hong Kong, and Germany, now hold their own versions of this freakish event.
… The Wife Carrying Championship is considered one of seven bizarre feats of strength events held around the world:
• Cheese Chasing Roll and Wake, Coopers Hill, Gloucester, UK
• Man vs Horse Marathon, Llanwrtyd Well, UK
• Extreme Ironing World Championships, Bavaria, Germany
• Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, Coney Island, New York
• Baby Jumping Festival, Spain
• Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri, Japan (where a bunch of near-naked men jostle for good luck charms — nearly ten thousand of them, in one sweaty, heaving cluster).
EASY WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT _ Checking your weight every day could help you slim down. A two-year Cornell University study found that tracking the results of daily weight checks on a chart helped people lose weight and keep it off. People who lost weight with this approach in the first year maintained that weight loss throughout the second year.
TALKING ON YOUR PHONE WHILE DRIVING IS DANGEROUS _ Researchers (Johns Hopkins University) say using a cell phone — even with a hands-free device — will likely distract drivers because the brain cannot handle both tasks. Imaging tests show the brain directs its resources to either visual input or auditory input, but cannot fully activate both at the same time.
REMEMBER THIS? A YEAR AGO THIS WEEK: ASK IN THEIR RIGHT EAR _ Science has discovered that the secret to getting someone to do something is to ask them in their right ear. Research shows that people prefer to be addressed in their right ear because they will find it easier to process the information and are therefore more likely to perform a task. Known as the “right ear advantage,” scientists believe it’s because information received through the right ear is processed by the left hand side of the brain which is more logical and better at deciphering verbal information than the right side of the brain.
WACKY-BUT-TRUE
WACKY-BUT-TRUE: 20,000 POUNDS OF SMUGGLED MEAT PRODUCTS SEIZED _ Authorities on the west coast recently intercepted 19,555 pounds of prohibited pork, chicken, beef and duck products arriving from China. Most of the animal products were commingled in boxes of headphones, door locks, kitchenware, LCD tablets, trash bags, swim fins, cell phone covers, plastic cases and household goods “in a clear attempt to smuggle the prohibited meats.”
WACKY-BUT-TRUE: 16 CASES OF MEAT, FRIES STOLEN FROM ARBY’S RESTAURANT _ Someone stole 16 boxes of frozen food worth an estimated $1,500 early Friday from an exterior cooler at an Arby’s restaurant in Niagara Falls, New York. Investigators suspect the cooler may have been left unlocked. Stolen were seven cases of roast beef, five cases of corned beef, two cases of turkey and two cases of curly French fries.
WACKY-BUT-TRUE: WOMAN WAS DRIVING NAKED WHILE EATING PIZZA _ Two people caught joyriding through Italy in the buff were arrested by police. They say a woman was eating a slice of pizza while driving naked. Her passenger was also naked, holding a bottle of wine between his feet.
WACKY-BUT-TRUE: GIRL WALKING AND TEXTING GETS STUCK _ A teen in China got a valuable — and embarrassing — lesson about distracted walking when her entire leg got lodged in a drain while texting. The girl’s leg slipped through the metal grill of the drain, up to her thigh.
Her foot was lodged, and she was unable to move or free herself. Passersby comforted the girl and called the fire department, which was able to remove the bars and free the girl.
WACKY-BUT-TRUE: GIANT SAW BLADE BOUNCES ACROSS HIGHWAY INTO TRUCK _ A freak incident happened in China as a man drove along a freeway. A giant circular saw blade fell from a truck on the opposite side of the road and hurtled towards the man’s truck. The 5-foot-wide circular blade smashed into the driver’s vehicle. The saw stopped just a few inches from the driver’s seat.
WACKY-BUT-TRUE: BANK ROBBER DISTRACTED BY SHOE LACE _ In Germany, police are looking for a man who robbed a bank, then left his dufflebag full of money lying on the sidewalk just outside the bank’s doors. Witnesses say the man stopped after the robbery to tie his shoe then, forgetting about the bag, walked away.
ON TELEVISION
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT (8p ET, NBC) — New. The auditions continue. Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) is the guest judge.
THE CONNERS (8p ET, ABC) — Two repeats.
DC’S STARGIRL (8p ET, CW) — New.
BLACKISH (9p ET, ABC) — Repeat. A repeat of Mixed-ish follows.
LOUIE ANDERSON: BIG UNDERWEAR (9p ET, CW) — Stand up special.
SEASON PREMIERE: GREENLEAF (9p ET, OWN) — This Memphis megachurch drama is back for a fifth and final season.
WORLD OF DANCE (10p ET, NBC) — New. The callbacks continue.
THE GENETIC DETECTIVE (10p ET, ABC) — New. Cece Moore helps uncover the identity of a serial rapist through genetic genealogy.
SERIES PREMIERE: CELEBRITY SHOW-OFF (10p ET, TBS) — This new 10-part series, hosted by Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory), will find celebrities competing to see who can produce the most compelling content from their own homes. Celebrities include Diplo, Ja Rule, Action Bronson, Gabi Butler, Dwight Howard, Travis Kelce, Nene Leakes, Jason Mraz, Kevin Smith, Tori Spelling, Bella Thorne, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah Willis.
ERIC ANDRE: LEGALIZE EVERYTHING (Netflix) — New stand up special.
ENTERTAINMENT
GOLDEN GLOBES 2021 POSTPONED NEARLY TWO MONTHS _ The 2021 Golden Globes will take place on February 28 — about eight weeks before the 93rd Academy Awards. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the announcement Monday morning. Just a week earlier, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the 93rd Academy Awards telecast has been postponed by two months to April 25, 2021.
… The Golden Globes have usually been held on the first Sunday of the calendar year as a kickoff to the Hollywood awards season. This year’s edition was held on January 5 with the HFPA announcing six days later that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler would host the 2021 ceremonies.
TRAILER FOR THE DOCUSERIES ON LEBRON JAMES THE DECISION _ LeBron James’ The Decision turns 10 years old this year, which means that it’s been a full decade since Cleveland Cavaliers fans balled their eyes out after hearing the now three-time NBA champ utter the words, “I’m taking my talents to South Beach,” to join his buddies Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. To many, July 8 is still one of the worst days ever.
… Thankfully, James’ decision to bolt Cleveland for Miami in 2010 wasn’t the end of his time around his hometown in Akron, with LeBron returning to the Cavs in 2014 and leading the team to the 2016 NBA title.
… Of course, that doesn’t mean that LeBron James’ The Decision wasn’t a complete farce, and probably should’ve never been broadcast on national TV to begin with. And thanks to a new docuseries from ESPN about The Decision that’s airing Sunday (June 28) we’ll get to see all the behind-the-scenes ins and outs of the entire process. A trailer was released Monday and, well, it’s pretty clear that a lot of people thought The Decision was a bad idea from the start — a lot of people except LeBron. • VIDEO
MARVEL STUDIOS, STAR WARS AND MORE TO RETURN TO THEATERS _ Now that the world is slowly beginning to reopen following the three-month COVID-19 lockdown, movie theaters are searching for ways to draw customers back to the big screen. Fortunately for film fans, both the studios and theater chains are getting creative and looking to bring both old and new blockbuster films to the big screen one more time.
… Last week we learned cinemas in the United Kingdom were planning to reopen with a remastered 4K edition of The Empire Strikes Back. We’re learning Disney has similar, even bigger plans for theaters in the United States as well. According to a source (tweet by Erik Davis, managing editor at Fandango), Disney plans to release an impressive run of both Marvel and Star Wars films in theaters as they begin to reopen. Disney’s titles, scattered across four weeks, include:
- The Avengers
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Black Panther
- Deadpool
- Zootopia
- The Greatest Showman
- Iron Man
- The Force Awakens
- Inside Out
- and more…
… Note that it’s up to each individual theater chain to book these films, so you will not see every title in every available theater.
OSCAR ISAAC SAYS HE’D RETURN TO STAR WARS FOR THE PAYCHECK _ Poe Dameron himself, Oscar Isaac, recently joked that he’ll only return to Star Wars for the paycheck. While speaking with Deadline about his new film, The Cloud Counter, Isaac opened up about his experience on Star Wars and how he’s always been drawn to smaller projects. He said, “I enjoyed the challenge of those films and working with a very large group of incredible artists and actors, prop makers, set designers, and all that was really fun. It’s not really what I set out to do. What I set out to do was to make handmade movies, and to work with people that inspire me.”
… As to whether he would ever return to the franchise, Isaac had a funny response, saying: “Probably, but who knows. If I need another house or something.”
ISAAC ASIMOV’S SCI-FI CLASSIC FOUNDATION GETS A TV SERIES _ Apple TV+ is adapting Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series of sci-fi novels in the form of the 10-episode Foundation. Apple says the series “chronicles the epic saga of The Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it.” It lands n Apple TV+ next year. • VIDEO
JENNIFER ANISTON AND LISA KUDROW DROP HINTS ON THE FRIENDS REUNION _ Lisa Kudrow has commitment issues. While chatting with Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston, Kudrow confessed that she’s had a hard time saying “yes” to other jobs since working on the beloved sitcom, which signed off in 2004. Kudrow said, “[Friends] worked because we all committed to each other too. It wasn’t just committing to a role, committing to a contract. We all still love each other. Our cast is like that, and that’s why that worked. I think part of me died. I can’t do that again.”
… Aniston revealed that during quarantine she’s been like a lot of us — binging on old Friends episodes and even watching bloopers.
… Kudrow and Aniston are both eagerly awaiting the end of lockdown so they can begin filming the sitcom’s reunion special for HBO Max, which Aniston revealed that they know is “not scripted.”
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA REVEALS HOW HAMILTON WILL BE CENSORED FOR DISNEY+ _ Lin-Manuel Miranda had to do away with some mature language to get the Hamilton movie ready for its debut on Disney+. After much online debate about whether the handful of expletives in the musical would be removed in the filmed version, Miranda has weighed in and revealed which lines have been censored for the family-friendly streaming platform — and which single F-word he kept.
… Miranda tweeted Monday: “On July 3, you’re getting the whole show, every note & scene, & a 1-minute countdown clock during intermission (bathroom!).” However, more than one F-word earns a film an R rating, and there are three F-words in Hamilton. So, as Miranda put it, he “literally gave two Fs so the kids could see it.”
… Miranda explained that in the film, the word will be muted in Hercules Mulligan’s (Okieriete Onaodowan) line “When you knock me down I get [the expletive] back up again.” The Hamilton movie will also censor the line “Southern [expletive]’ Democratic Republicans” in “Washington on Your Side,” replacing it with a record scratch.
The one F-word left will be in the song “Say No to This.”
THE GREAT NORTH RENEWED FOR SEASON 2 AT FOX _ Fox has renewed the animated comedy The Great North for a second season before the first has even aired. The show will debut at midseason in 2021. It comes from a couple of the people behind Bob’s Burgers.
… The Great North follows the Alaskan adventures of the Tobin family, as a single dad, Beef (Nick Offerman), does his best to keep his weird bunch of kids close — especially his only daughter, Judy (Jenny Slate), whose artistic dreams lead her away from the family fishing boat and into the glamorous world of the local mall. Rounding out the family are Judy’s older brother, Wolf, (Will Forte) and his fiancé, Honeybee (Dulcé Sloan), her middle brother, Ham (Paul Rust), and ten-year-old-going-on-fifty little brother, Moon (Aparna Nancherla).
DIRECTOR JOEL SCHUMACHER DIES AT 80 _ Joel Schumacher, costume designer-turned-director of films including St. Elmo’s Fire, The Lost Boys and Falling Down, as well as two Batman films, died in New York City on Monday morning after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 80.
MICHAEL KEATON IN TALKS TO PLAY BRUCE WAYNE IN THE FLASH MOVIE _ Michael Keaton is in talks to return the role for which he was best known: Batman. Keaton will make his return as Bruce Wayne in the long-delayed The Flash movie. Back in 2017, as rumors surfaced that the DC films would be moving away from Ben Affleck’s version of the Caped Crusader, source say a Flash movie would involve time travel and alternate universes, would allow them to recast the character without starting over from scratch on this whole film universe.
KRISTEN STEWART TO PLAY PRINCESS DIANA _ Kristen Stewart will play one of the most famous women of all time. It was announced Monday that Stewart will play Princess Diana in Spencer, a biographical drama that follows the late royal as she comes to the decision to divorce Prince Charles. Pablo Larraín, who directed 2016’s Jackie, starring Natalie Portman as the first lady in the days following her husband’s assassination, will direct Spencer. The film is set to begin shooting in early 2021 and will follow Diana over three days in 1992, as she makes the decision to abandon royal life and her loveless marriage to Prince Charles.
COBRA KAI MOVES FROM YOUTUBE TO NETFLIX _ Netflix has acquired the first two seasons of the Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai plus its unaired third season. The first two seasons, which aired on YouTube in 2018 and 2019, will premiere on Netflix later this year. Season 3 will air at a date that has yet to be announced. YouTube renewed Cobra Kai in May 2019 before it decided to move away from scripted programming.
BITS & BREAKS
LONG-GONE LANDMARKS YOU STILL USE
A hyper-local Facebook/phones bit: Are there landmarks that are no longer in your city that you still use when giving directions?
CONVERSATION STARTERS
• 21% of us don’t make our bed daily. 5% of us never do.
• Men do 29% of laundry each week.
• 10% believe in the 10 Commandments.
• 37% claim to know how to use all the features on their TV remote.
• 56% of women pay the bills in a marriage.
FIREWORKS FACTS
• The first fireworks recorded in America were set off by Englishman Captain John Smith, famous in the story of Pocahontas.
• Colored fireworks didn’t exist until the 1800s.
• Three sparklers burning together generate the same heat as a blow-torch.
• Most firework accidents are caused at family backyard parties, closely followed by incidents in the street.
Think sparklers are harmless? Think again — sparklers cause more injuries than most other fireworks combined. As adults, 364 days a year we tell our little ones “Don’t touch!” On the Fourth of July we hand them a wire (sparkler) that burns at a temperature of 1,200 degrees and say, “Have fun!”
SUMMER IS ICE CREAM SEASON
And June is Dairy Month. Some cold facts:
• Ice cream as we know it emerged in 17th century France.
• The cone didn’t appear until 1904, when a Syrian waffle maker at the St. Louis World Fair began rolling his pastries into horns to help an ice cream vendor who had run out of dishes.
T• he average American eats about 20 quarts of ice cream a year — the world’s highest per capita consumption.
• Top selling flavor: vanilla, with 30 percent of the market; followed by chocolate with 19 percent.
• It takes 5.8 pounds of whole milk and one pound of cream to make one gallon of ice cream.
FUN & GAMES
TRIVIA: Thirteen percent of people who get this are men. (Botox)
TRIVIA: Name the U.S. President who’s 28 feet tall. (Lincoln. If the seated figure in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. were to stand up it would be 28 feet tall. Lincoln himself stood 6 feet 4 inches.)
TRIVIA: 65% of us do this each day before leaving for work. (Kiss our significant others)
HOLE IN THE HEADLINE
Guess the word that’s missing from this real news headline: “Woman With Medical Condition Wakes Up with Four Different ______”
A woman in the UK who went mute for two months after a mystery brain injury finally has her voice back — but now speaks with four different accents. Doctors were perplexed after countless tests failed to explain why 31-year-old Emily Egan lost the ability to speak. And when she finally began to talk again, Emily’s voice sounded nothing like the English accent she had before. She now mostly speaks with a Polish accent — but her accent can suddenly change to sound French and Italian as well. If she experiences a lot of stress, her accent becomes Russian, and when she is exhausted, Emily can lose the ability to speak altogether.
… After months of confusion, Emily has finally been diagnosed with foreign accent syndrome — a rare speech disorder caused by brain damage. Initially suffering from headaches, she went to hospital and medics initially suspected a stroke, but tests ruled out. Eventually she lost the ability to speak altogether and doctors were baffled. They believe her speech disorder was caused by brain damage — but don’t yet know what happened to cause the damage.
HOLE IN THE HEADLINE
Guess the word that’s missing from this real news headline: “Nigerian Men Tattoo Their ______ Pink”
There’s a Nigerian fashion trend sweeping the country’s tattoo parlors — so-called “pink lips”. The process involves young men having their lower lip “tattooed” or bleached with a pink paint so that their lips are no longer a shade of black, but instead a shade of pink. None of the men would explain to a reporter the reasons why they were getting their lips tattooed pink though one reason seems to be that women find men with pinker lips more attractive.
COUNTRY DATEBOOK: JUNE 23, 2020
• 1995: GARTH BROOKS’ album The Hits was certified multi-platinum for sales of 6 million copies.
• 2004: LONESTAR made a guest appearance on the NBC daytime series Days Of Our Lives. They performed at the grand opening of a club in the fictional town of Salem.
• 2005: BROOKS AND DUNN sang The Star-Spangled Banner at Game 7 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio, Texas.
• 2008: TAYLOR SWIFT’s self-titled debut album was certified triple platinum for sales of 3 million copies. She also earned recognition for 500,000 downloads of her song Our Song.
• 2010: LORETTA LYNN’s Coal Miner’s Daughter and the WILLIE NELSON album Red Headed Stranger were added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry along with audio by The Band, Little Richard and The Staple Singers.
• 2013: A CMT Crossroads edition celebrating WILLIE NELSON’s 80th birthday premiered. It closed with Neil Young, Jamey Johnson, Sheryl Crow, Ashley Monroe and Norah Jones joining Willie on Whiskey River.
• 2017: Brad Paisley Park was dedicated in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS
RASCAL FLATTS will release a 7-song EP, How They Remember You, on July 31. The set will contain six new songs and a cover of the KENNY ROGERS classic Through The Years. The EP marks the trio’s first new music since the stand alone single Back To Life in 2018.
SAM HUNT’s sophomore album, South Side, will be released on vinyl July 17. Each copy will include a free poster.
American Idol season 17 champ LAINE HARDY is quarantined at home after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Laine says his symptoms are mild at this point.
BRANTLEY GILBERT and LAUREN ALAINA will join TRACE ADKINS as country performers for this year’s A Capitol Fourth. The show will find artists performing from various cities without an audience and will spotlight frontline workers and historical African American figures.
BRAD PAISLEY, DARIUS RUCKER, JON PARDI and others will play the Live From The Drive series, July 10-12. The shows will be held in Nashville, Indianapolis and St. Louis and will be shown in drive-in theaters.
DARIUS RUCKER and LADY A will partner for a new song sometime this summer. Darius says the song was a lot of fun and is excited for fans to hear it. The trio joined Darius on his hit Wagon Wheel a few years back.
CASSADEE POPE plans to release a new acoustic set of tunes. Titled Rise And Shine, the album doesn’t yet have a release, but Cassadee says the eight songs she co-wrote are about where she’s been and where she’s going.
New music is coming from CHRIS YOUNG early next month. If That Ain’t God, a song Chris co-wrote, will be his next single. Chris says after the tune found its way to him earlier this year he felt it was fitting to make it his next release.
THE GATLIN BROTHERS will play a special show at The Franklin Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee on July 25. The event, dubbed Fan Favorites, will stream on franklintheatre.com with an audience of 70 in attendance.
Visit the Country Quickies page to search past stories.
COUNTRY DATEBOOK: JUNE 24, 2020
• 1989: GARTH BROOKS made his Grand Ole Opry debut.
• 1994: COLLIN RAYE topped the charts with Little Rock.
• 1996: JOHNNY CASH made his first public appearance since being diagnosed the previous October with Shy-Drager Syndrome. Johnny appeared in Nashville and joined KRIS KRISTOFFERSON for a song.
• 2003: BLAKE SHELTON’s pet turkey, named Turkey, died of heat stroke on his Tennessee farm.
• 2010: The Eagles and THE DIXIE CHICKS closed a five-stadium concert tour at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
• 2013: Fans learned that LUKE BRYAN and his wife Caroline were building a plantation style home near Nashville.
• 2017: RASCAL FLATTS crashed a wedding in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, playing Bless The Broken Road for the surprised couple’s first dance.
DATEBOOK: JUNE 24, 2020
BIRTHDAYS
• Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac is 73
• Peter Weller (RoboCop) is 73
• Nancy Allen (RoboCop) is 70
• Sherry Stringfield (ER) is 53
• Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project, The Office) is 41
• Minka Kelly is 40
• Vanessa Ray (Blue Bloods) is 39
• Justin Hires (MacGyver, Rush Hour) is 35
• Beanie Feldstein (Lady Bird) is 27
IT HAPPENED TODAY
• 1497: The first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place when explorer John Cabot, on a voyage for England, spotted land, probably in present-day Canada. He claimed the piece of land for England, which is now Newfoundland.
• 1892: Robert Ford was gunned down in a Creede, Colorado, saloon. Ten years earlier, as a new recruit in the Jesse James gang, he had killed Jesse for a $10,000 reward.
• 1997: The Air Force released a report on the so-called “Roswell Incident,” suggesting the alien bodies witnesses reported seeing in 1947 were actually life-sized dummies.
• 2010: John Isner of the United States defeated Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history: 11 hours, 5 minutes.
• 2014: The original lyrics to Like a Rolling Stone, handwritten by Bob Dylan on hotel stationery, sold for $2 million at auction.
SPECIAL EVENTS
• Fairy Day
• World UFO Day
• Pralines Day
• Swim a Lap Day
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PHONER: Weird kid names. Iceland told some parents they can’t name their kid Lucifer (November 26 News & Nuggets). This file has real callers sharing real weird kid names.
