WEEKEND TABLOID & BLOG BS:
• A behind-the-scenes tour, “The Making of Harry Potter”, opened to the public Saturday at Leavesden Studios outside London UK, where all 8 ‘Potter’ films were shot. Movie sets, including the ‘Great Hall’, the ‘Ministry of Magic’, and ‘Dumbledore’s office are included in the 3-hour self-guided tour. Visitors can also view props, costumes, models, and special effects exhibits. It’s not the first Potter-themed attraction. In 2010, “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” opened at Universal Studios Florida, and another will open at Universal Studios Hollywood.
– LATimes.com
• Sharp-witted TV anchor Keith Olbermann has been fired from his post on Al Gore’s Current TV network after less than a year on the job. He was given a 5-year contract worth a reported $50 million last year to serve as Chief News Officer and host his own show, “Countdown”. Reports say he is currently seeking legal action against the network for unfair dismissal.
– TMZ.com
• Actress Anne Hathaway’s rep has hit back at reports she has gone on a dangerous crash diet to shed weight for her role in the now-shooting movie version of “Les Miserables”. UK tabloids have claimed Hathaway in an extreme 500-calorie-a-day diet to shed 16 lbs in just 20 days so director Tom Hooper can shoot the tragic death scene of her character, doomed prostitute ‘Fantine’. The rep says the tabs are ‘making something of nothing, as usual.’
– ContactMusic.com
• Charlie Sheen’s 71-year-old real-life father, actor Martin Sheen, is set to guest-star as his onscreen dad in the new TV show “Anger Management” (FX/CTV). The series is loosely based on the 2003 film of the same name, which starred Jack Nicholson & Adam Sandler. Charlie plays a former baseball star undergoing therapy; Selma Blair plays his therapist; and Shawnee Smith his ex-wife. The new comedy is set to debut June 28th with back-to-back episodes.
– “Access Hollywood”
• Justin Bieber arrived onstage to accept the ‘Favorite Singer’ award at Nickelodeon’s 25th “Kids’ Choice Awards” Saturday night only to find out from host Will Smith he’d also been voted the celebrity fans most wanted to see ‘slimed’ … and immediately the green goo gushed from the rafters and water cannons aimed at the stage. Other big winners: Big Time Rush (‘Favorite Music Group’), Selena Gomez (‘Favorite TV Actress’; ‘Favorite Female Singer’), and Adam Sandler (‘Favorite Movie Actor’). Huh?!?!?
– Reuters.com
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “ACM Presents: Lionel Richie & Friends – A Lifetime of Hits” (Las Vegas) – Tonight this all-star concert special is taped at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to air at a later date on CBS-TV. Performers include The Band Perry, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts and others.
• “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC/CTV2) – The couples perform dances using a style of their own choosing.
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Lionel Richie (“Tuskegee”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CHCH) – Eli Young Band (“Life at Best”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS/NTV/Omni1) – Tonight Los Campesinos! (“Hello Sadness”). Rerun.
• “Little Mosque On the Prairie” (CBC) – After 6 seasons, the series finalé of what was once a groundbreaking concept that received international recognition. The show has aired in 83 countries.
• “NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship” (CBS) – The title game features Kentucky vs Kansas from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
• “The Voice” (NBC/CTV) – Vocalists form 2 teams to compete against one another.
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• The Beatles – The European Court of Justice has ordered Dutch company You-Q to stop using the name ‘The Beatle’ for its new model of … electric wheelchair. The company faced a legal challenge from Apple Corps.
• Michael Bublé – He’s been nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award in Britain for his radio hosting skills during a 3-month stint on the London-based Magic 105.4 network last year.
• Mumford & Sons – They’ve spent most of the last year in the US touring in support of their debut album “Sigh No More”. But now they’ve moved back to the UK because, they say, they want their 2nd album to be an ‘evolution not a revolution’.
• Paul McCartney – Hundreds of trees he had planted in Somerset UK in remembrance of his late wife Linda have been ravaged by Sudden Oak Death Disease. All the larch trees in ‘Linda’s Wood’ have had to be chopped down due the deadly disease which has jumped tree species.
• Taylor Swift – Her date with Kevin McGuire, the young leukemia victim she offered to take to Sunday’s “ACM Awards”, had to be cancelled as he wasn’t well enough to attend and had to be hospitalized. Taylor has tweeted, “I’ll make it up to you, Kevin!”
• Whitney Houston – A collection of her memorabilia fetched over $80,000 at a Beverly Hills auction on Saturday. A bustier she wore onstage went for $18,750, while a pair of pearl earrings worn in the movie “The Bodyguard” made a tad over $2,800. More Houston collectibles, including 30 of her gowns, will be auctioned in June.
ELECTRONICALLY TRACK YOUR SPOUSE:
A new service called ‘Family Link’ allows owners of OnStar-equipped vehicles to track family members’ movements via its website, as well as receive email and text alerts when they arrive at a location. You enjoy all this snooping around for just $3.99 a month. The company is pitching the service as a way for parents to keep track of kids, but it could also be used to track anyone driving a registered OnStar vehicle. For instance, an untrusting spouse could virtually follow their partner without that partner’s knowledge or consent. OnStar says it’s depending on subscribers to tell family members the service has been enabled on their vehicle. (More loss of privacy thanks to technology.)
– CBC.ca
STUFF THAT MAKES DRIVERS MAD:
According to a recent survey, these are the things most likely to tick us off in traffic …
5. Rude drivers.
4. Tailgating.
3. Drivers who cut you off.
2. Slow drivers.
1. No blinker when turning.
(And how about leaving your blinker on when you’re not turning? Ask listeners for more.)
– PA News
BS LAW & DISORDER:
✗ An unemployed Austrian man was so dead-set against returning to work … he lopped off a foot. The 56-year-old was set to meet with a labor board to evaluate his fitness to return to the workforce when he set his left leg atop an electric saw in his home workshop and let ‘er rip. He then hobbled to his kitchen and threw the foot in the oven before calling an ambulance. Doctors were subsequently unable to reattach the appendage. (Sounds like somebody had a bad case of the Mondays!)
– Reuters.com
✗ This is one fast woman! A 53-year-old female driver from Hayward, California has been arrested for speeding … 3 times … in 1 hour. She was first clocked doing 103 mph (166 km/hr), then nailed a little later zipping along at 105 mph (169 km/hr), and finally pulled over a 3rd time doing a mere 76 mph (122 km/hr) on Northern California highways. (Nice to see she learns from her mistakes!)
– NYPost.com
✗ Brazilian Federal Police have nabbed a woman carrying more than 2 kilos of cocaine in … a fake baby bump. The 20-year-old admitted she had the drugs after she became nervous when asked routine questions upon arrival at Augusto Severo International Airport in Parnamirim. And thanks to her tip-off, a 24-year-old man waiting in a cab outside the airport was also arrested. (She not only failed to fake pregnancy, she spilled her guts!)
– AMI Agency
BS SOCIAL STUDIES:
• Great news for couch potatoes! According to the International Journal of Obesity, watching TV burns 18% more calories than just lying motionless in bed. (Must be all that Dorito-lifting.)
• A recent sampling of hitchhikers revealed that fully 84% had criminal records. (The other 16% just had their car stolen.)
• Women make better gamblers on horse-racing than men according to a British university study. Why? Contrary to popular thinking, women take greater risks. (Like betting based on jockey’s ‘outfits’.)
• Tax experts advise you play soft music while doing your income tax, try doing it with a friend, and – no matter what – don’t try it when you’re tired. You should also give yourself a reward for getting it done early. (Too late for that!)
DID YOU KNOW?
• Birds take ‘girls only’ vacations.
– BBC News
• 600-plus known species of bacteria live in the human mouth.
– TTP
• While playing ‘Don Draper’ onscreen, “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm smokes herbal cigarettes.
– Entertainment.ie
BS CHRONOMETER 04.02.12
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1947 [65] Emmylou Harris, Birmingham AL, country/folk singer with 12 Grammy Awards (“Blue Kentucky Girl”, “To Know Him Is To Love Him”)
1961 [51] Christopher Meloni, Washington DC, TV actor (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” 1999-2011)/movie actor (“Harold & Kumar” films) UP NEXT: “Man of Steel” (2013)
1975 [37] Adam Rodriguez, Yonkers NY, TV actor (‘Delko’ on “CSI: Miami” since 2002)
1977 [35] Michael Fassbender, Heidelberg, Germany, movie actor (“Shame”, “Inglourious Basterds”)
1979 [33] Jesse Carmichael, Boulder CO, pop keyboardist (Maroon 5-“Moves Like Jagger”, “This Love”)
1986 [26] Lee Dewyze, Mount Prospect IL, pop singer (“Hallelujah”, “Beautiful Day”)/”American Idol” Season 9 winner (2010)
BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Peanut Butter & Jelly Day”, celebrating what may be the world’s most popular sandwich. But what else have you sandwiched with peanut butter? We like PB & tuna. Nummers!
• “Reconciliation Day”, a day to write a letter or make a phone call in order to mend a broken relationship. (“Dear Mom: Sorry about that April Fool’s Day whoopee cushion!”)
• “World Autism Day”, a UN observance since 2007 to raise awareness that this disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction & communication is estimated to affect 1-in-150 children worldwide.
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1902 [110] The 1st ‘Motion Picture Theater’ opens in Los Angeles (The Electric Theatre charges a dime to see a 1-hour newsreel and the films “The Capture Of the Biddle Brothers” and “New York In a Blizzard”)
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1957 [55] Elvis Presley appears for the 1st time outside the USA, performing at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto (this and a show the next day in Ottawa are the only Elvis concerts outside America)
1997 [15] After 32 years, Joni Mitchell is reunited with her first daughter, Kilauren Gibb, whom she gave up for adoption at the start of her career
TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1978 [34] ‘Velcro’ is introduced (inspired by the little hooks on burrs that attach to clothing)
2006 [06] Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” becomes the 1st-ever single to top charts based solely on download sales
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1980 [32] Toshiaki Shirai & Yukiki Nagata of Tokyo, Japan set the world record for ‘Underwater Kissing’ (2 minutes, 18 seconds)
AND REMEMBER . . .
[Tues] Find a Rainbow Day
[Tues] World Party Day
[Wed] “Titanic 3-D” opens in movie theaters
[Wed] International Day for Mine Awareness
[Wed] Paraprofessional Appreciation Day
[Wed] Vitamin C Day
[Wed] World Rat Day
THIS WEEK IS . . .
Blue Ribbon Week / Explore Your Career Options Week / Golden Rule Week / Holy Week (Christian) / International Pooper-Scooper Week / Laugh at Work Week / Medication Safety Week / Public Health Week / Testicular Cancer Awareness Week / Week Of the Ocean / Window Safety Week
BULL’S BITS
BEST OF BS:
A highlight bit culled from 19 years of “Bull Sheet” back issues …
BS LEAST RECOMMENDED CHILDREN’S BOOKS:
Today is “International Children’s Book Day”, celebrated on the birthday of one of the most famous children’s authors, Hans Christian Andersen, born in Denmark on this day in 1805. He penned 168 fairytales in all, including “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “The Princess & The Pea”, and “The Little Mermaid”. As a public service, here are a few less popular kids’ books to avoid …
• “The Little Sissy Who Snitched”
• “Whining, Kicking & Crying to Get Your Way”
• “Places Where Mommy & Daddy Hide Neat Things”
• “The Boy Who Died From Eating All His Vegetables”
• “The Mouse, The Motorcycle & The Organ Donor Card”
• “How to Write Your Name In the Snow”
• “The Cat That Shat In the Hat”
• “What’s That Bag For, Grandpa?”
– First published in “BS” 2001.
NET: http://www.FreeRadioPrep.com
BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ If your partner was dead and buried and you found out he or she had a winning lottery ticket on them, would you dig them up to get it? (In a recent survey, only 1-in-4 said no.)
BS RANDOM JOKE:
A professor is someone who talks in someone else’s sleep.
BS BASEBALL QUIZ:
A timely test just in time for the new season. What do the following baseball slang terms mean?
✓ Ball Hawk … a fielder who catches everything.
✓ Bang-bang play … a very close play.
✓ Baseball Annie … a female who hangs around ball players (in other words, a groupie).
✓ Cuban forkball … a spitball.
✓ Ducks are on the pond … the bases are loaded.
✓ Nubber … a cheap (or accidental) hit.
✓ Pickle play … a run down (as in a player caught ‘in a pickle’ between bases).
✓ Room service throw … a perfect throw to a base.
– Excerpted from BaseballTips.com
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: THIS happens most often on Mondays.
Answer: Headaches.
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Almost everything in life is easier to get into than out of.
NOW ON OUR SHEET LIST:
Jon Briggs @ BBC Radio Oxford, Oxford UK; Sam Burke @ Exitos 98.7 [KXTS] Santa Rosa CA; Zachary Christodoulides @ 1670 MAC Radio, Austin TX; Sean Crawford @ C103 [CJMO] Moncton NB; Dave MacGregor @ CCKC 88.9, Nova Scotia Community College, Dartmouth NS; Kent Rosentreter @ Rock 106 [CJRX] Lethbridge AB.
