TODAY IS FRIDAY- APRIL 17, 2009

THE MORNING SHOW
with
JIM & KAREN
on
SPIRIT FM



TODAY IS:

Today is Toothbrush Appreciation Day, a day to wonder how life would taste without your toothbrush.

Today is Ellis Island Family History Day, marking this date in 1907 when 11,747 immigrants were processed through the island, more than any other day in history
Today is National Cheeseball Day.

Today is Daffy Duck Day. Daffy appeared in his first cartoon, "Porky's Duck Hunt," on April 17, 1937. He didn't get his name until he appeared in the 1938 short, "Daffy Duck and Egghead." In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a new Daffy Duck stamp on his birthday.

Today is International Ford Mustang Day 1964 - The Ford Motor Co. unveiled its new Mustang model at the New York World’s Fair on April 17, 1964. The Mustang was championed by Ford Division general manager Lee Iacocca, with a suggested retail price of $2,368. The car was a great success and sold over one million cars in its first 18 months.

Today is Blah Blah Blah Day, a day to stop smoking, take out the trash, lose weight, empty the cat litter, get a job, quit a job, or whatever.

1970 - Apollo 13, the U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered oxygen tank No. 2 blowing up in the spacecraft on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth landing in the Pacific Ocean. What’s your latest “Houston, we have a problem” moment? Mine…washing machine breaks, flood ensues, family room wet, me angry.

1521 - Martin Luther excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church.
1985: The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its new 22-cent "Love" stamp. Showing the set of TV’s The Love Boat as a backdrop, the stamp became one of the postal service’s biggest sellers.



IN THE NEWS:

Owners of the Columbia and Jefferson City Malls file for bankruptcy
Joe Biden Visited Mid-Missouri Thursday – I wonder if he was here to collect all the tea bags?

Despite making $1.2 million from 2000 to 2004, Barack and Michelle Obama gave less than 1% of their earnings to charity in that time. But they were selfless and giving enough during that period to by a GM car.

President Obama should get a big refund this year. He has a lot of dependants. AIG, Citibank, Morgan Stanley . . .
President Obama has lifted the travel ban to Cuba. I want to remind people that if they do travel to Cuba, don’t forget to set your watch back 50 years
Biden Charity

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife gave just 0.7% of their income to charity in 2008. Biden says he shows true kindness to poor people by staying out of their neighborhoods.


In Hong Kong, a group of billionaires have built a life-size replica of Noah’s ark. It is big enough to hold 150 animals or almost all of the Octo-Mom’s kids.


"In a week, Susan Boyle has gone from karaoke and her local church choir to global fame and an invitation to the Oprah Winfrey show.

The frumpy 47-year-old, who says she's never been kissed, has gained celebrity fans and millions of admirers - including a fair number of men - since she wowed judges on the TV show 'Britain's Got Talent.'

Her fame has been fueled by new technology, with a clip of her performance viewed more than 12 million times on YouTube.

'Susan can't help herself, she just sings whenever she can sing,' said Jackie Russell, the manager of the Happy Valley Hotel in Blackburn, Scotland, where Boyle occasionally sings karaoke. 'We weren't surprised by her talent, but we were surprised by the reaction around the world.'"


"John Madden is retiring from football announcing, where his enthusiastic, down-to-earth style made him one of sports' most popular broadcasters for three decades. The Hall of Fame coach spent the last three seasons on NBC's 'Sunday Night Football.' His final telecast was the Super Bowl in February."

We wish him well. Speaking of retirement:

When is the best time to start thinking about your retirement?

Before your boss does.



A Saudi man divorced his wife by text message. In Saudi Arabia, if a man says "I divorce you" three times, it's legal. But you have to be careful. Some cell phone texting plans include unlimited divorcing -- others only allow divorcing evenings and weekends.



NADYA SULEMAN may not like the name, "Octomom," but she's filed an application to trademark the word so she can license products to make money. However, People magazine says she may not get the rights because a Houston-based novelty company filed for the rights a month earlier. Her attorney is already on the case, though, claiming the firm has no rights to claim the name and that they have no permission from Nadya. He says there's a bunch of doll manufacturers and clothing designers who want to distribute product lines with the bame.

Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter says although several online columns have already reported Nadya has a reality TV show, there's nothing signed yet. However, she apparently is in negotiations with a British-based production house. The problem is apparently finding a network which would run the show. The show biz trade says TLC, which already runs "Jon and Kate Plus 8," "18 and Counting" and "Table for 12," backed out of a deal after meeting Nadya in person. And a spokesperson for Bravo says they're not interested as well.



Yes, Virginia, there will be a "Ghostbusters 3" movie. Ain't It Cool News says DAN AYKROYD, BILL MURRAY, HAROLD RAMIS and ERNIE HUDSON have all signed on for the sequel, and now Ackroyd is trying to convince SIGOURNEY WEAVER to join the cast as well. The movie is scheduled to be in theatres in 2011.



While eating some Girl Scouts Sugar Free Chocolate Chip cookies I noticed a warning, ever so small, on the box that read “excess consumption may have a laxative effect.” I was surprised by that! Someone called and gave me an answer as to why. I asked her how she knew why and her answer is, “because I’m a life time dieter” in case you want to fit that question in the proper spot.


Legendary football coach and broadcaster John Madden is retiring, he announced Thursday. It’s been such a great ride … the NFL has been my life for more than 40 years, it has been my passion — it still is,” he said in a statement released by NBC Sports. Madden, 73, was a Hall of Fame coach for the Oakland Raiders, but is best known to millions as an ebullient football commentator. He won 16 Emmy awards for outstanding sports analyst/personality, NBC said. I bet he’ll come back and play for the Jets, just watch. Who has held down a job the longest in your community? I talked to a guy this morning who hasn’t missed a Tulsa Driller’s baseball game in 20 years!


A quick ironic headline for you from CNN – “Endangered Turtles Race To Save Their Futures” One problem: they’re turtles. The largest turtles on Earth, leatherbacks once were plentiful in every ocean but the Arctic and Antarctic. While their population in the Atlantic Ocean is believed to be stable, other populations, including those in the Pacific, are dwindling dramatically.


Hazing in high school - Authors of an ambitious survey of hazing in colleges and universities have turned their attention to high schools and discovered that many freshmen arrive on campus with experience — with 47 percent reporting getting hazed in high school. They are finding that it’s getting out of hand. Hazing in the 70’s and 80’s was wearing a kick me sign on the back of your shirt or getting an innocent ‘swirlie’, but no one ever ended up getting physically hurt. Hazing eventually ended up in friendship or just faded away, unlike bullying today which is really what hazing has become. What’s the hazing scenario in your high schools?
Females get along fine without males - in the world of tropical ants. A type of tropical ant has dispensed with males altogether, according to scientists, and only the female of the species exists. Experts have discovered a South American species that is exclusively female and reproduces by cloning the queen. The Mycocepurus smithii is the first known type of ant to be a male-free species. The phenomenon takes the stress out of finding a mate and may help keep the peace in colonies, the scientists believe. Do you hear the sound of women cheering or is that…just…know, forget it.


Can’t go into the weekend without another food recall! Union International Food Co. is expanding a spice recall to include all Lian How brand and Uncle Chen brand sauces, oil and oil blends in various size packages because the products may be contaminated with salmonella. For more details visit www.ufunionfood.com


Want your kid to be happy? Let them eat fries!
A new study published recently in the Journal of Happiness Studies took a hard look at kids and their relationship with fast food.

At first the findings, according to a Los Angeles Times report, are what you’d expect:

– Kids ages 2 to 12 who regularly consume fast food and soft drinks are more likely to be overweight.
– Moms who turn to fast food are more likely to have kids who turn to fast food.
– Kids in cities are more likely to consume fast food than kids in small towns.
– Greater fast food consumption is linked to greater soft drink consumption.
– Kids eat more fast food and guzzle more soft drinks as they get older.
But then there’s this:
– Kids who regularly scarf down fast food and soft drinks are less likely to be unhappy than kids who don’t. More likely to be overweight, yes, but less likely to be unhappy. Like LA Times health blogger Tami Denis’ colleague put it: There’s a reason they’re called “Happy Meals.”



This is National Playground Safety Week. Playground safety tips.
*The monkey bars can be fun, and if it’s hot enough you can sit on them and they’ll leave really cool grill marks.
*The slide is always going to be really hot or really wet.
*Getting really dizzy on the merry-go-round after eating a bowl of Cheerios will only be funny to other people.
*Regardless of whether the playground is grass or gravel, when it comes to your gum, it’s always a good idea to back the “five second rule” off to a “two second rule”.



Kind of a strange topic, but one we will all be a part of one way or another: What song will you play at your funeral? While hymns and classics may have been traditional favorites, pop songs now account for more than half of the music chosen as people’s final soundtrack, according to the poll of over 30,000 funerals. Here are some of the top pieces of music chosen, according to the poll commissioned by Co-operative Funeral Care.

- Top 5 popular songs:
1. “My Way” - Frank Sinatra/Shirley Bassey.
2. “Wind Beneath My Wings” - Bette Midler/Celine Dion.
3. “Time To Say Goodbye” - Sarah Brightman/Andrea Bocelli.
4. “Angels” - Robbie Williams.
5. “Over The Rainbow” - Eva Cassidy.
- Top 5 hymns:
1. “The Lord Is My Shepherd”.
2. “Abide With Me”.
3. “All Things Bright And Beautiful”.
4. “Old Rugged Cross”.
“Amazing Grace”.

From our format, I would go with Hold Me Jesus from Rich Mullins, When All Is Said And Done from Geoff Moore, I Will Rise from Chris Tomlin OR…a party song…Fields of Grace from Big Daddy Weave or Gone from Switchfoot.

Coupons.com reported a 192% increase in the value of coupons printed from its site in March, compared with a year ago. The total value of the coupons was $57 million.”Consumers printed a record amount of savings in March, almost tripling the amount printed last year,” Coupons CEO Steven R. Boal. Coupons have been the second-most-visited category on the internet — behind jobs — for about a year. Man, I feel like it’s money waiting to be used up, but I just can’t get myself to use coupons! Ask for some coupon users to offer tips for the novice coupon clan out there. I guess there are websites solely devoted to coupons and coupon trading!