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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check
December 4, 2009
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He's dead, Jim:
ROBERT DEGEN, who may or may not have written the Hokey Pokey.
The song has been popular for decades and its authorship has been in dispute for just as long. It's usually credit to LARRY LaPRISE, who recorded the song with a his trio group in the late 1940s. But a similar song called "The Hokey Pokey Dance" was copyrighted a few years earlier by Degen, who was a club musician in Scranton, PA, at the time. He'd always claimed that LaPrise had stolen his song, but in those days, people didn't sue like they do today.
It was just reported yesterday that Degen died in Lexington KY, on Nov 23, his 104th birthday. (LaPrise died in 1996, and the two men never met.) And that's what it's all about.
Editor's note: And you know how they lowered Degen into the grave, don't you? They put his left foot in, they put the left foot out... ah, phooey. (Maiman)Christmas shopping update:
Wal-Mart is shaving $10 off the price of top video games this holiday season, which could start another price war among competing retailers.
The Wall Street Journal says the "price cuts are some of the most aggressive the videogame industry has seen." The paper explains, "The videogame price cuts make good on Wal-Mart's promise earlier in the season to offer aggressive but strategic prices on the products most sought after by consumers. The temporary discounts are aimed at getting customers in the door in the hopes they will buy other, higher priced merchandise." (Maiman)Factoid:
64 percent of kids say Mom does most of the work preparing for Christmas. Only 1 percent say Dad does his fair share! (source: KidzEyes Holiday Wish List and Habits Survey)
Ladies Home Journal magazine asks, "Your ultimate Christmas cookie is..."
--The classic sugar cookie: 46%
--Gingerbread all the way: 7%
--Something that involves chocolate: 39%
--Spiked with peppermint: 2%
--Anything thin and crispy: 6%On the Beat:
Police in Denton, TX, are looking for a man who's been going door-to-door offering free massages.
MSNBC says the guy approached a 21-year-old woman by knocking on her door. He allegedly told her he was required to spend several hours giving massages in order to complete his massage therapist training. The unnamed girl said, "He looks like a guy, a regular guy. A college student, you know? He didn't seem like, you know, creepy or anything."
The woman says she let him in and he asked if he could borrow some lotion. Then he asked her to get naked and lay on the bed. She said she felt uncomfortable about that. So, instead, she climbed on the couch and only removed her top. But, when the guy asked if he could touch her in certain sensitive areas and invited her out on a date, she decided things had gone too far. That's when she told the man to leave and called police.
Cops say, if they find the guy, he could be charged with a misdemeanor. (Still)Broadcast, cable and video news:
The Washington Post reports (HERE) that ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS has been offered the co-host slot on "Good Morning America." At issue are money --of course-- and his specific duties if he ends up replacing DIANE SAWYER.
Sawyer will replace CHARLIE GIBSON as anchor of ABC's "World News" starting Monday, December 21. Gibson's last broadcast is slated for two weeks from tonight, December 18. (Pacelli)
Who says those hokey Christmas shows don't do well in the ratings? Overnight Nielsen ratings show the holiday classic, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," was first in its time period and the number one show on Wednesday night, pulling in nearly 11 million viewers.
By the way, the Grammy Nominations Concert didn't even pull a quarter of that.Idiots or Insane:
A woman in Jacksonville, Florida claims her daughter's talking HANNAH MONTANA doll is spouting profanity.
According to WTLV-TV, BRANDY WESTBERRY overheard her 3-year-old girl dropping the F-bomb. When she asked the kid where she learned it, the girl said she got it from the doll. Westberry claims, after listening to the doll talk, she heard it too.
The toy in question is a Hannah Montana Christmas doll that supposedly sings "later we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some caroling." But, the word pumpkin allegedly comes off sounding like another word that starts with "F". Westberry says, "There's no question, none at all, it's plainly clear. How could they put this on the shelf?"
Westberry says she still let's her daughter play with the doll. But, she took out the batteries. (Still) -
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