Born on this day!! Actor Don Hastings (“As the World Turns”) is 88. Actor Ali MacGraw is 83. Singer Rudolph Isley (Isley Brothers) is 83. Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff is 74. Keyboardist Billy Currie of Ultravox is 72. Actor Annette O’Toole (“Smallville”) is 70. Singer Susan Boyle is 61. Actor Jose Zuniga (“Mission Impossible: 3,” ″Twilight”) is 60. Country singer Woody Lee is 54. Actor Jessica Collins (“The Young and the Restless”) is 51. Rapper-actor Method Man is 51. Filmmakers Albert and Allen Hughes (“Menace II Society,” ″Dead Presidents”) are 50. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is 49. Actor David Oyelowo (“Selma,” ″The Butler”) is 46. Actor Sam Huntington (“Superman Returns,” ″Jungle 2 Jungle”) is 40. Actor Taran Killam (“12 Years A Slave,” ″Saturday Night Live”) is 40. Actor Matt Lanter (“90210”) is 39. Singer Hillary Scott of Lady A is 36. Drummer Arejay Hale of Halestorm is 35. Actor Asa Butterfield (“Hugo,” ″Nanny McPhee Returns”) is 25.
THIS DAY IN GENIUS HISTORY
1778 – Oliver Pollack created the dollar sign: $.
1789 – Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first Speaker of the House of Representatives.
1933 – The Nazi persecution of Jews began in Germany with a boycott of Jewish businesses.
1945 – American forces landed on Okinawa during World War II.
1960 – Tiros I, the world’s first meteorological satellite, was launched.
1963 – The daytime soap opera General Hospital first aired on ABC-TV.
1970 – President Nixon signed a bill into law banning cigarette ads from radio and television.
1976 – Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer.
1979 – Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed Iran to be an Islamic Republic.
2001 – Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic arrested on corruption charges.
2003 – Pvt. Jessica Lynch was rescued by U.S. commandos in a raid on an Iraqi hospital.
2004 – President Bush signed the “Laci Peterson” bill making it a separate federal crime to harm a fetus during an attack on the mother.
2009 – Sweden becomes the fifth European country to legalize same-sex marriage. The other countries with the same rights are The Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Spain.
Today Is: AKC Agility Championships, April Fools or All Fools Day, Boomer Bonus Days, Hospital Admitting Clerks Day, International Kids Yoga Day, International Tatting Day, Library Snap Shot Day, Myles Day, National Fun Day, National Fun at Work Day, Poetry & The Creative Mind Day, Reading is Funny Day, Sorry Charlie Day, St. Stupid Day, Take Down Tobacco Day, US Air force Academy Day
TODAY ON TV!
Primetime TV (All Times Eastern)
CBS – 8:00 – Undercover Boss / 9:00 – Magnum PI / 10:00 – Blue Bloods
NBC – 8:00 – Blacklist / 9:00 – Dateline NBC
ABC – 8:00 – Shark Tank / 9:00 – 2020
FOX – 8:00 – Friday Night Smackdown
CW – 8:00 – Charmed / 9:00 – Dynasty
TV Talk Shows
Live with Kelly and Ryan: Ethan Hawke, Dr. Michael Breus
Ellen DeGeneres: Allison Russell, guest host Brandi Carlile
The Real: Zuri Adele
WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN’ ABOUT? Here are today’s PPM-Friendly Topics!
QUESTION: NO FOOLIN’?? The “RAZZIES” have rescinded their “worst performer” award to BRUCE WILLIS, following the revelation about his aphasia! NOW how do you feel?
QUESTION: Better without him?? They met on Tinder, sated for a month, and then she dumped him! He filled her shoes with BAKED BEANS and trashed her apartment?????
QUESTION: Say WHAT?? Shaquille O’Neal does some free-stylin’, and threatens to “Will Smith” his longtime frenemy, CHARLES BARKLEY!!! THAT would be a bad slap!!!
QUESTION: What did her GRANDPARENTS say when she invited them to “Euphoria” premiere.. but forgot her NUDE SCENES? “Best tits in Hollywood!!” Thanks, Gramps!!
QUESTION: Are the Red Hot Chili Peppers STILL THAT BIG? Yesterday, LAPD had to shut down Hollywood Blvd. when crowds gathered for their STAR CEREMONY!!!!!!!
Bruce Willis Has Been Showing Signs Of Illness
Bruce Willis displayed signs of cognitive issues, such as memory loss and confusion, on movie sets in the recent years leading up to his aphasia diagnosis and retirement from acting, filmmakers and co-stars say. In a statement released on Wednesday, his family announced he has been diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that affects the ability to communicate. Now, directors, producers and former co-stars who worked with Willis on various movies in recent years are recalling the concerns they expressed over what they viewed as an obvious decline in his ability to perform at his best. Directors, such as Mike Burns (“Out of Death”) and Jesse V. Johnson (“White Elephant”) said his lines and monologues had to be reduced as he had difficulty remembering them and even understanding why he was on set. Burns said he first relayed the message that Willis’ script in “Out of Death” would need to be cut “by about 5 pages” in a June 2020 email to the screenwriter. “I could see it firsthand and I realized that there was a bigger issue at stake here and why I had been asked to shorten his lines,” Burns recalled when recalling his first day of working with Bruce.
********On a positive note, he’s been tapped to play Joe Biden in an upcoming biopic!! (too soon?)
Obi-Wan Kenobi Debut Moved
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Disney Plus debut is happening a little later than intended. The series will now premiere on May 27, two days after its original release date, Disney announced on Thursday. Along with the new date, Disney also revealed that fans will get the first two episodes of the series at once, which should help make up for the two-day wait. The announcement came from Obi-Wan himself, Ewan McGregor. Ewan first thanked fans for their response to the show and its trailer, then hit everyone with the good news and bad news of the delay and extra episode. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s new schedule also has a larger impact on Disney Plus’ programming schedule. The series will now overlap with Marvel’s Ms. Marvel series for one fewer week, since Disney is releasing two episodes at once. Ms. Marvel is set to debut on June 8, while Obi-Wan’s run should now end around June 22 — as long as everything stays on schedule. See the video HERE.
*******Disney had to come up with a few more gay and transgender characters for the series!!
******In the middle of episode two, Obi-Wan decides to become “Obi-Wanita!!”
*****It takes time, because the series is being produced in a galaxy far, far, away.
*****Coming soon: the story of the third trombone in the Cantina Band!!
Did The Academy Lie About Asking Will Smith To Leave?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is not telling the whole truth about its role in the slap from Oscar night, according to a new report. Hours after they claimed they asked Will Smith to leave the 2022 Oscars but he “refused,” TMZ sources claimed Thursday that a consensus was never actually reached because officials were split about how to handle the situation. Three insiders who were reportedly at Sunday’s ceremony and “witnessed various conversations” told the outlet that some wanted Smith to leave, but others did not. The sources “with direct knowledge” who “were present” at the show also alleged to TMZ that show producer Will Packer had told him “he could stay.” The Academy, however, told the Associated Press Wednesday night, “Things unfolded in a way we could not have anticipated. While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently.”
*****Of COURSE they lied… they’re in the movie business!!
*****Would YOU wanna be the $30-an-hour security guard who had to drag Will Smith out of the theater??
******Giving him a standing ovation after he slapped Chris Rock was bizarre.. but they did the same thing for Roman Polanski after he raped a 13-year-old. So.. it’s just Hollywood!!
Wil Wheaton Blasts William Shatner
William Shatner lived up to his infamous reputation as a “self-centered” “douche” — that according to former co-star George Takei — when he met actor Wil Wheaton on the set of “Star Trek V.” At the time, Wheaton was 16 and playing Wesley Crusher on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” when he found out that the original “Star Trek” cast would be working next door. Wheaton, who co-starred in “Stand by Me” opposite River Phoenix and Corey Feldman as a kid, took weeks to drum up the nerve to introduce himself. Finally, he saw Shatner surrounded by crew members and decided it was time. Wearing his gray “acting ensign” spacesuit, Wheaton walked over to Shatner. “It took about eight steps for my confidence to evaporate,” Wheaton, now 49, writes in his upcoming book, “Still Just a Geek: An Annotated Memoir,” out April 12. “‘So you’re the kid on that show?’” Shatner asked. “He seemed annoyed,” Wheaton writes. “My throat and mouth were dry, and my palms were sweating. My heart pounded in my ears, as I answered, ‘Uh, yes sir. My name’s Wil.’” The teen put out his hand for Shatner to shake — which he ignored. Shatner then proceeded to mock Wheaton’s costume. “‘What is that, your spacesuit?’ he said, and made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a cough,” Wheaton writes. Wheaton says he actually felt light-headed and didn’t hear Shatner when he asked him a question. “‘I said, What do you do over there?’ he asked,” Wheaton recalls. “There was a challenge in his voice.” When the teen explained he was an acting ensign who sometimes pilots the ship, Shatner said dismissively, “Well, I’d never let a kid come onto my bridge.” Word quickly went around the set that Shatner had been rude, and members of the crew and cast came to comfort Wheaton. Brent Spiner, who played Data on “Next Generation,” told the teen that Shatner was bald and wears a toupee. Michael Dorn, who played Klingon Worf, jokingly offered to kick Shatner’s ass, and Jonathan Frakes (Capt. William Riker) said: “To hell with him.”
*******That’s Bill.. spreading the joy wherever he goes!!!
******Everyone thinks he’s in on the joke, but he actually takes himself seriously!!
The Beckham’s Were Broken Into While Home
David and Victoria Beckham’s west London mansion has been broken into while the couple were inside with their 10-year-old daughter. Their Kensington home was broken into on February 28th. The Met confirmed a burglary had been reported in the W11 area and said a number of items were reported stolen. No arrests have been made. It said inquiries into the burglary, first reported by The Sun, continued.
******You’re thinking: “How could they not know??” But that’s what happens when your house is as big as a resort hotel!!
********It’s good to see that crime is surging in the UK as well. Makes you feel like we’re not alone!!
Joe Rogan Threatens To Leave Spotify
Joe Rogan was speaking with MMA fighter Josh Barnett who wondered, after his appearance on the show, “Is everyone going to pore over every single thing I say?” “They will,” the host responded, “but it’s the same thing. It’s just a conversation.” After a brief exchange about how The Joe Rogan Experience is “the biggest f*cking podcast in the world,” Barnett insisted that he told his wife he didn’t have to stress over his appearance on it because he knows Rogan is still just “my buddy.” Rogan agreed. “We’re the same,” he said. Rogan then expanded upon the thought, relating it to fame, his podcast and, implicitly, the recent controversies over vaccine “misinformation” put forth by some of his guests and his own repeated use of the N-word over the years. “If I become something different because it grew bigger, I will quit. If it gets to a point that I can’t do it anymore, where I have to do it in some sort of weird way where I walk on eggshells and mind my p’s and q’s, f*** that!” said a defiant Rogan of the show with millions of listeners for which he is paid $100 million.
**********It’s easy to say, until you realize those big checks are gonna stop coming in!!
*****Have you heard the show? If Joe Rogan can get canceled for THAT, no one is safe!!
*****How come no one in the government ever gets canceled for misinformation? They’re the masters at it!!
Ripping The Tabloids (Throughout the week, we’ll give you the stories from that weeks tabs!)
**Please Credit Publication!
Loose Talk-(Us Weekly)
“I reached a point in my life where these moments with these little ones are so precious…..Yes, let’s do my nails, and yes, let’s go take a walk n the beach or yes, you can have ice cream when Mommy won’t let you because Daddy loves you more.”-On being a Girl Dad, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“I don’t want to be loved…..I want to be feared!!! Being loved and being nice got me taken advantage of.”-In an Instagram post on her response to those who feel pity for her, Britney Spears.
“I wish I had kept the nose of my ancestors. I think I would have grown into it.”-On regretting getting a nose job at 14 years old, Bella Hadid.
STUPID NEWS
Beer Highway
A stretch of Kentucky highway was closed Wednesday when an overturned truck spilled its load of beer bottles into the roadway. Kentucky State Police said the single-vehicle crash occurred about 8 a.m. Wednesday in the northbound lanes of Interstate 65, near Louisville. The driver of the truck was not injured. The Hardin County Government shared photos showing bottles of Bud Light Platinum spilled across the roadway and the shoulder of the highway. The section of northbound I-65 was closed for several hours in the morning for cleanup work, and the roadway reopened in the afternoon. See the photos HERE.
********Bud Light? That’s like, a water a spill!!
******Authorities rushed to the scene with a truck full of pretzels, but it was too late!!
*****Cops showed up, smelled the alcohol, and arrested everyone!!
Hotel For Your Houseplants
A Kentucky hotel is offering houseplant-loving tourists the chance to bring them along to the “World’s First Plant-Friendly Hotel experience.” VisitLEX, the convention and visitors bureau of Lexington, teamed up with Elwood Hotel & Suites to offer a special set of amenities to guests traveling with their houseplants in tow. “Thanks to a years-long pandemic and the rising costs of parenthood, pets are the new babies. And plants have been promoted to the new pets,” VisitLEX said in a news release. The “World’s First Plant-Friendly Hotel experience,” which kicks off April 8, will offer The Gardener’s Premier Corner Room Package for six king suites “specially chosen for their abundance of plant friendly natural light.” The package also includes greenery provided by Pemberton’s Greenhouses, a complimentary potted succulent, botanical toiletries from Kentucky Soaps & Such and a “tea” for plants served in a pink mug. All guests will also have the option to partake of “plant-centric perks” including a Garden Mojito cocktail special made with blackberry syrup, fresh herbs and edible flowers at the downstairs Fiddletree Kitchen & Bar.
*******This is a good option for “Fruitarians..” people who refuse to eat plants!!
*****Vegans are horrible… they rip vegetation out of the ground and devour it..
*******There’s a sexy rhododendron sitting the bar right now!!!
Woman Lights Clerk On Fire With Gas!
A woman who was asked not to panhandle outside a Florida gas station on Wednesday is accused of returning to the store later that day and dousing a clerk with gasoline and then setting her on fire. According to Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Circle K gas station at Massachusetts Avenue and North W Street near Brent Athletic Park in Brent, Florida. Deputies tell WKRG, Betty Jean McFadden, 30, allegedly filled a canister with gas, went inside the store, and doused a clerk with gasoline before throwing lit matches at her until she caught fire. A second clerk came up to help put the fire out and she got burned as well. Both clerks were taken to a hospital. One of the clerks is facing life-threatening injuries. McFadden was arrested and will be charged with attempted murder.
********It’s hard to make a joke about attempted murder… so we won’t!!
*******This is a “Florida Woman” story that’s just not fun!!
New Jersey’s Beach Trash
Volunteers picked up a record amount of trash from New Jersey’s beaches last year, with plastic items dominating the haul, and bizarre castoffs including male enhancement pills, a set of braces, a glow-in-the-dark condom and a Turkish Airlines hygiene kit found on the sand as well. The Clean Ocean Action coastal environmental group released its annual report Wednesday on the result of the prior year’s beach sweeps. Over 10,000 volunteers picked up over half a million items along the state’s 127-mile (204-kilometer) coastline in cleanups held in spring and fall of 2021. A hunk of human hair; a full set of dentures (“I TOLD you not to take your teeth to the beach!”); a thong; a used narcan kit (used to revive drug overdose victims); several marijuana bags (empty, of course); a bullet casing, and a fake eyeball were among items picked up. There also was a parking ticket; a lottery ticket; a glue stick; a mini-refrigerator; a toilet brush; a TV remote control; a Mason jar filled with (we hope) liquor; a plastic monkey, and a set of rosary beads, possibly from someone praying for the cast of characters that left all this behind.
********We were LOOKING for that fake eyeball!!
******Why doesn’t anyone ever leave $1 million in unmarked bills behind??
STUFF THAT’S COOL AND VIRAL
VIDEO: ANOTHER ANGLE SHOWS JADA LAUGHING AFTER WILL SMITH SMACKS CHRIS ROCK.
VIDEO: LITTLE KID FLIPPED BY HEAVY BACKPACK!
A LIST FOR FRIDAY
7 Tips Productivity Experts Follow When They Fall Behind On Work
HUFFINGTON POST
- Ask for help.
When I’m overwhelmed or I’ve suddenly picked up a bunch of responsibilities on top of everything I have, I first sit down and try to organize everything by importance.
This is actually the hard part ― not because of the organizing, that’s easy ― [but] stopping to try to take in the full scope of my work. Sometimes it feels like it’s silly to stop working in order to start working again, especially when you might be behind or overwhelmed. But it’s important to stop, take a break, get a little mental clarity. Take a walk, drink a big glass of water, make sure you’ve eaten today. Once you’re refreshed, come back and try to arrange your tasks and to-dos by priority, importance (two different things!) and delegation.
And when I say “delegation,” I don’t just mean stuff you can ask other people do to. I mean stuff you can negotiate more time for, or ask your manager to take off your plate because you’re overwhelmed, or get a friend or colleague to lend a hand with. And that’s important, too: Don’t be afraid to ask for help! So many of us get into the headspace that we have to be masters of all of our duties and do everything on our own or else it’ll reflect poorly on us, and that’s not fair to us or the people we work with. Whether you have the psychological safety to ask for help is a whole different question, obviously, but if you do, ask for it! I can’t tell you how many managers I’ve had who saw me running myself ragged and told me, “Next time, talk to me sooner, I can help you!” and actually meant it. — Alan Henry, service editor at Wired magazine and author of the upcoming book “Seen, Heard, and Paid: The New Work Rules for the Marginalized”
- Get everything out of your head and onto paper.
What I like to do is get everything out of my head and onto paper.
I actually did it today. Grab a blank sheet of white paper and draw a vertical line down the center and a horizontal line across the center, so you’ve got four quadrants on your page. In the top lefthand corner, I write, “Must do.” Top right, I write “Should do.” Bottom left, I write “Could do,” and bottom right, I write “Want to.” And I just start writing things out of my head into those four categories. When you have to decide where everything goes, it’s almost like taking a colander that strains things in the section that it belongs, and it really helps you clarify, “OK, there are a lot of things bouncing around in my head, but not everything is a must-do.” What are the deadlines that are most urgent? Once I feel complete with the mind sweep, I look at what’s on the must-do list, and then I’ll prioritize or rank, and I’ll literally write a 1 or a 2 or a 3 next to everything in order of importance. At that point, I feel settled down enough to know what I need to start on. –– Anna Dearmon Kornick, time management coach and host of the “It’s About Time” podcast
- Shrink the project load.
When I fall behind on work, I spend a bit more time planning and make a list of all of the current projects I have on my plate. I then see if I can delegate any of those projects to someone else or drop any because they’re significantly less important or meaningful than the others. With the projects that remain, I look at their deadlines to see if I can reasonably get them all done, considering how much time, attention and energy I’ll have. If I won’t have the bandwidth, I’ll try to beat back a few of the deadlines somehow, like by letting people know I’ll be late ahead of time but need extra time to do a good job, or by just telling them that I’ll be late, hopefully well in advance.
Ninety percent of the time I find it’s possible to shrink my overall workload with these tactics. When it isn’t, and I figure that the work will be worth the extra time, I’ll just work the extra hours to get it done while still shrinking the project load to experience less overall stress. — Chris Bailey, author of “The Productivity Project”
- Acknowledge ‘I am overwhelmed and I need help!’
While I’m task-oriented, there are times when I get behind or get overwhelmed with distractions. My best practices include:
1. Acknowledge where I am: “I am overwhelmed and I need help!”
2. Prioritize my task list: Are my tasks immediate, close of business or later?
3. Limit my distractions: Check social media less or set a specific time for Q&As with students.
4. Get by myself, behind closed doors, for a set amount of time and go full-out on completing tasks. — Pamela A. Reed, time management coach and author of “Unfinished Business: How to Finish What You Start … Faster!”
- Communicate quickly if your task involves others.
The first thing that I do is to take a step back and just stop, because dealing with so many things happening at one time is just information overload.
I find doing a pause means not looking at emails, not checking the phone and just taking it all in: “This is what’s happening, let me collect my thoughts and get myself in a place where I can think through the next steps,” as opposed to, “Let me just pick something and finish it just to finish it.”
Acknowledge it is what it is. It’s a moment in time. And then look at projects and deadlines. The work that you have to do: Is it just your own work or does it involve others? If it does, then communication to them has to be the first thing. That distinction, I think, is important. If someone is expecting something from you, communicate right away: “This is the new timeline,” “Can I get this to you by this time?” or make them aware of what’s happening. — Rashelle Isip, productivity consultant
- Ask yourself this one clarifying question.
Defining clear priorities, I think, is the key to getting out of feeling overwhelmed. If you are in a job where you have a leadership team or a boss, sometimes it’s an issue of asking for clarification from them and saying, “These are the things I have on my plate. What should be the priority?” But if you are the person who has to decide what’s most important, I like to use a clarifying question from a book called “The One Thing” by Gary Keller. And the clarifying question is: Of all these things that are on my plate, what is the one thing that if it was resolved or it went away, all of these other things would become easier or irrelevant? What is that one domino that if that domino fell, it would make everything else better? — Katie Wussow, business coach for creatives and host of “The Game Changer” podcast
- Get your mind calm.
Often people look for a one-click solution to this. But in my experience this requires skills that you must practice regularly to master: stress management and resiliency, prioritization and time- and task-management.
But when I do fall behind with work, here’s how I would put the three skills into practice. First, I’d deal with [feeling overwhelmed] using meditation or another mindfulness practice. You know you’ve achieved it when your heartbeat is at a relaxed rate. Your muscles, jaws and eyebrows become unclenched. And your breathing gets back to normal. Then, I’d write down all the tasks I needed to do. A better place to store tasks is not the brain but a to-do list. Similarly, a problem is easier to solve when you can see it.
The next step is to prioritize using the Eisenhower Matrix. Do what’s important and urgent. Schedule what’s important but not so urgent. Delegate tasks that are urgent but not in my area of expertise, and eliminate the rest. Sometimes it’d turn out that the pile of tasks is manageable if I can get focused. If not, I’d negotiate deadlines. Often I am surprised by how understanding people are when you explain your situation.
I trust the system. It all begins with a calm mind. — Samphy Y, productivity coach
The preceding material was compiled and edited by Brandon Castillo. The Editor-In-Chief is Gary Bryan. The Radio Genius Show Prep Service is licensed for use on-air only by subscribing radio stations. Other means of redistribution is forbidden.
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