Back in 2023 I joined a morning radio show on 100.7 The Point. We’re Mornings with Kasie and Kev and we’re on every day 7-9 a.m. On Thursdays, Fran Halloran takes my place.
I have a bit every show at about 7:25 a.m. called “Kasie’s Top 5” where I list off five things by theme. At the end of 2024, I reviewed the list in its entirety and chose these 10 as the best of the top 5s. They’re written in descending order, so there’s the title and then the honorable mention and then 5, 4, 3, 2, and the last one is #1. This is because as smarty pants as some software thinks it is, it won’t reverse-order number stuff. Ppfffttttt.
Anyway, enjoy!
The BEST of the Top 5s was: 5 animals we’d like to see domesticated into pets
After yesterday’s article said Chimpanzees don’t work as pets, we came up with some of our own. Drawing the line on horses, birds, and snakes. Also extinct animals (dinosaurs) and fake animals (dragons) don’t exist.
Kodiak Bear 🐻 or the Brave movie’s black bear. Let them sit and you can sit on them like a bean bag bear. Only worried about the volume of hunny you’d have to purchase and the raw fish scenario.
Shark — 🦈 don’t need a tank, just go to the end of dock and whistle for him. Bruce! Dude! Tough to snuggle but cool bragging rights. Must have a beach house. Hanna Barbara’s Jabberjaw (Charlie’s add) equipped with lasers? The ultimate weapon.
Penguin 🐧— the Mary Poppins kind Or the Happy Feet variety. Or Mr. Popper’s penguins (Hollie’s vote). For the dancing. Of course.
Elephant 🐘- must have acreage, prefer African elephants with big floppy ears: the better to hear you with my dear. Babies can be 320 lbs making them the second biggest babies on the planet. After Dallas Cowboys fans.
Tiger 🐅— big snuggly cat? Yes, please! If not friend, why friend shaped?
5 things we trust more than politicians
Expired medicine – specifically ointments like anti-itch cream
The guy offering to valet my car at McDonald’s. Can you drive stick, sir?
Email from a Nigerian Prince about the inheritance he needs my help with. Of course I’ll give you my bank account number.
Calls from Richland County Sheriff’s Department offering to let me pay my fines in bitcoin.
Whoever said Florida State would win the Natty this year
5 things adults need to know that aren’t being taught in schools
How to change a flat tire.
How to prepare a healthy a meal for yourself, and your kids
How to build wealth – money management, investing, how the economy works, how to stay out of debt
How to swim – tread water, float on your back, basic water survival
How to take responsibility for bad decisions and own up to mistakes; failure isn’t fatal.
5 things that might fall out of the sky that are not a satellite
Honorable mention: anvils and pianos
A tree branch — true story, Charlie was following a truck, the truck hit the tree, the branch fell on Charlie’s car. Bad luck right? It’s happened twice.
A golf ball — kinda depends on how close you are to a course, but “fore!” Is a real warning. Look up and look out.
Tree debris— A walnut — less common here but in Northern Virginia we had tons of these trees and they’d just let their “fruit” go whenever it suited them. The Midlands equivalent might be a pine cone. Apparently acorns have been harassing police and causing them to draw their weapons. Just search “acorn police officer” and you’ll find it.
A bird’s turds. Nuff said.
A door, a panel, a window, or some other debris from a Boeing aircraft
5 desserts that if there were no other desserts available, you’d skip dessert all together
Fruitcake
Jello
Tapioca pudding
Brownies with nuts
Anything blueberry
5 clueless people
Honorable mention to the people at the airport baggage claim who stand too close to the carousel and block other people’s view of the bags as they arrive.
The person operating a leaf blower at 7:15 in the morning. Why? Every hotel I’ve ever stayed in has this idiot on staff.
Tall guy in a bar standing in front of the TV. Dude! You are TALL and we are sitting down. Get out of the way.
People who try to pass on cruise control. Pass like you meant and cruise in the right lane. If you don’t want to drive the car, you want to let it drive you, then get out of the fast lane. You don’t pass on cruise control.
People who think giving the government more money will make it work better. More taxes? Corporate taxes? Tariffs? Funding the government. Hasn’t worked so far. The future resembles the past.
People who refer to the Dallas Cowboys as “America’s Team.”
5 ways Nutcracker and Die Hard are similar
So the premise is this: Nutcracker has exactly as much Christmas as Die Hard. Here’s the evidence:
They both take place on Christmas Eve.
They both have trees and presents as props.
They both have parties as the inciting incident.
They both have memorable music that has become Christmas classic carols – Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Run DMC’s Christmas in Hollis.
They both have villains vanquished by nutcracking heroes. They’re both like a fever dream of violence except one uses machine guns and the other uses pirouettes.
5 foods that deserve their own restaurant
Honorable mention : to All Pickled foods
Ketchup – there is a ketchup cookbook, why not a whole restaurant? Move Faster: the ketchup restaurant
Bacon fat – 🥓 vegetables, donuts, french toast, monte Cristo, potatoes, seafood, Key Lardo
Foods on sticks – skewers, corn dogs, ice cream pops, everything is on a stick; Pick Up Sticks
Dips — everything is dippable – hot ones like Parmesan artichoke and cold ones like hummus or sour cream and chives. Dippin Hots
Spam – obvy. Most popular dish: Spam Eggs Sausage and Spam. Canned.
5 reasons high schoolers should have access to their phones during school
They don’t feel safe. With active shooter drills having been part of their entire school career, can you blame them?
They are reliant on phones for apps — metronomes, and recording assignments, are just two of the apps Hollie uses for school.
They use phones to coordinate with one another for rehearsals, practices, and assignments. It’s a quick communication tool that enables groups to coordinate changes on short notice.
They use phones to communicate with parents about rides and changes in schedules. If practice is canceled and Hollie needs me to pick her up, or she needs to join the carpool, she wants to alert us to that.
Being responsible enough to know when phones are appropriate and when they are not is a valuable skill. How many adults don’t know when to put the phone down and pay attention? We have an opportunity, with reasonable restrictions, to teach them how and when to use their phones. Instead, we plan to pretend the phones don’t exist for eight hours a day. It’s not a policy. It’s lazy management.
5 manly scents for candles and body wash
Honorable mention: Crockpot — that all day return home to a meal already prepared; Fireworks – the lit match, the fireworks sizzle, the smoke, the stench of freedom (debatable)
Fresh cut grass – golf, football season, even that first early spring cut that makes you think “home”
New car smell – they make air fresheners with this scent for a reason
Fuel – gasoline at a NASCAR race specifically, but that fuel smell says CARS, says speed, says bring your own cooler
Mmmmm Bacon – a real scented candle by Yankee Candle, they even have one called Mantown which we think might smell like Hockey gear (🤢)
Smoker- the smoker grill (turkey, pork) that BBQ pit smoke smell, its enticing in the Kroger parking lot on Saturdays, it’s awesome at the tailgate, it’s a BBQ cookoff, a smoker says Holiday, says low and slow, says deliciousness to follow
Unapologetically X 
Loved you lists, I’m still smiling.
Bonnie