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Thursday, 4/17 --
Hi, sickos! For the first time since April 3rd we are all together in the same room doing the Showgram. And half of us probably shouldn’t be here.
JC’s cat-stalking owl has a friend in the tree – a raccoon. But JC doesn’t have to worry about Victor (a.k.a. Owl-Bait) being eaten by the raccoon; because John has heard that raccoons don’t eat… never mind. 37.5% of rabies contracted by Americans was from raccoons. (Or is it were? Is “rabies” singular or plural?) So keep sending your raccoon stories to JC (& not to me).
Have you, the listener, ever been bumped from a flight because the airline oversold the plane? It happens every day. Usually, they'll ask people to voluntarily give up their seat in exchange for a first class seat on another plane, or a hotel voucher, or airline miles, or whatever. But sometimes no one is willing to give up their seat & then people are involuntarily bumped. Thankfully, your Federal government has stepped in to rectify this! (from CNN)
Yesterday, the Transportation Department announced that airlines who oversell flights must compensate passengers who are involuntarily bumped to another plane with cold, hard cash.
If you get bumped from your flight, the airline will pay you $400 if you get on another plane & arrive at your destination within two hours of the original arrival time or within four hours of the original time if you're flying internationally. But if your arrival is delayed even longer than that, the airline has to pay you $800. This new policy goes into effect next month.
JC once hosted Corbin Bernsen in a department store in the Metro East & the big Hollywood star wouldn’t wear a Cardinals hat. John & JC thought it was because he was a Dodgers fan. Laurie & I thought it was because he didn’t wanna mess up his hair. Laurie likes him in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. JC remembers him in The Dentist (& its’ sequel). I like him in the Major League trilogy.
We answered letters people sent into therapists. Instead of helping people, we learned much about John.
Men, I have fantastic news. According to BBC News, the Cancer Council Victoria in Melbourne, Australia have found that men who take care of themselves sexually more than five times a week are 33% less likely to develop prostate cancer.
Dr. Graham Giles, who led the study, says that cancer-causing chemicals can build up in the prostate & if men don't regularly release them, they're at greater risk of developing cancer. Or, as Dr. Giles puts it: "The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around & damage the cells" which line your prostate.
The study found that it was most important for men in their 20s to regularly enjoy solo pleasure but even men in their 50s can reduce their chances of getting prostate cancer with a few extra "sessions" a week.
One note here, that I wish JC hadn’t mentioned: The study found that release from sex actually is NOT as effective in preventing cancer as self-manipulation. Booooooo! I was hoping to use this information when I got home today.
JC & I have appendectomy scars, while John & Laurie do not & might never have to have them. Surgeons at the University of California-San Diego Medical Center have removed a man's appendix through his mouth.
After emptying the man’s stomach, doctors made a small incision in his stomach lining to reach the inside of his body cavity. Once inside, the appendix was cut away, bagged up & then pulled back through his stomach & out his mouth.
The oral method is actually superior to the traditional procedure in two ways:
1. It usually takes about 10 to 28 days to recover from a traditional appendix removal, but the man was back at work the next day, & doing sit-ups just three days later.
2. There's no external scar from an incision.
Oral appendectomies are still experimental, but the doctors say that the mouth could soon be used to access organs more often.
Cyberdyne is a Japanese company which sells a robot suit called HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb), a full-body exoskeleton for arms, legs, and torso (& looks like a Stormtrooper outfit). Coincidentally (or not), Cyberdyne Systems is also the fictional corporation in the Terminator series.
Happy birthday to Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (& to my former neighbor Erin).
We foolishly asked for near-death stories. Lots of them took place on roads in South County.
We continued our Four Seasons, Four Seasons, Four Seasons & Four Seasons contest. Jersey Boys is coming to the Fox. Our prize packs featured four tickets to the show, Feraro’s Jersey Style Pizzas in Soulard & the grand prize includes an overnight stay at the aptly named hotel.
“e·qui·nox” is either of two times of the year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator and day and night are of equal length.
John came up with a list of current professional baseball players from the Metropolitan Saint Louis area:
Brandon Boggs – Rangers
Mark Buehrle – White Sox
Neal Cotts – Cubs
Ross Detwiler – Nationals
Justin Hampson – Padres
Jason Isringhausen – Cardinals
Bobby Livingston – Reds
Ryan McClellan– Cardinals
Zach Miner – Tigers
John Rheinecker – Rangers
Max Scherzer – Diamondbacks
& Randy Wells – Toronto
John says this list is definitive, so help us out if it isn’t.
Here’s a Japanese kid with too much time on his hands.
(By the way I love this song. I have the original & a Boston Pops version that I try to use at any appropriate occasion I can at hockey & football.)
The JoY was 1980s stand-up from Carol Leifer. The 3fA featured The Babys & more tickets to the Bob Costas Gala, Saturday night.
The Vault was an acoustic version of “Back on the Chain Gang” by the Pretenders. Finally, former Minnesota governor Jessie Ventura was known as “The Body.”
Don't Do Anything Stupid,
Carl The Intern
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