Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Aug 23, 2017

The Eclipse:

If you're wondering what to do with your solar eclipse glasses now that the big celestial event has come and gone, instead of throwing them in a drawer and forgetting about them, you can donate them. An organization called Astronomers Without Borders is launching a drive to collect unneeded solar glasses and redistribute them to schools in South America and Asia for solar eclipses that will be visible there in 2019. Details will be available on their website at AstronomersWithoutBorders.org and their Facebook page. (Bartha)

Taking everything much too seriously:

A baby born in South Carolina on the morning of the full solar eclipse has been given an appropriate name.
   You guessed it: her name is ECLIPSE. New mom FREEDOM EUBANKS gave birth to ECLIPSE ALIZABETH EUBANKS at 8:04 a.m. on Monday. Unlike the solar eclipse, baby Eclipse did not arrive on time --she was a week early. Mom says, "I kind of felt like it was meant to happen, to have her on this day." Baby Eclipse --nicknamed CLIPSEY-- weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 19-inches long.
   South Carolina was one of fourteen U.S. states in the "path of totality" for the solar eclipse. (Still)

Broadcast, cable and video news:

Got a kid you'd like to get into show biz?
   Deadline reports FOX is doing a nationwide "digital casting call" for a 9-to-12-year-old boy to play Ralphie Parker in Fox's live musical production of "A Christmas Story," which will air Dec 17. Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member MAYA RUDOLPH will star as Ralphie's mom on the show.
   If your kid wants a shot (or you want him to get a shot, Red Ryder BB gun notwithstanding), you can submit a video of the kid performing the original songs "Red Ryder BB Gun" and "Before the Old Man" at http://castittalent.com/A_Christmas_Story. Thank me later.

Grace notes from Vinny Marino:

Some folks in Louisiana want to replace all the Confederate statues in the state with tributes to its favorite daughter, BRITNEY SPEARS. Billboard.com says Kassi Thibodeaux has 725 signatures on a petition so far to (quote), "do the right thing" and (quote), "replace the Confederate statues with an actual Louisiana hero." Another petition was launched in Virginia to do the same for rapper MISSY ELLIOTT. (Marino)