BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ 63-year-old actress Kirstie Alley, who has unfortunately earned herself a reputation as Hollywood’s poster child for weight cycling, is on the weight-loss wagon again. The former “Fat Actress” reality star has announced a renewed partnership with weight-loss brand Jenny Craig. Quote: “I’m not like circus-fat, I just wanna lose like 20 lbs.” She first Alley represented Jenny Craig in 2004 and lost 75 lbs, but left the program in 2007 and has been advocating for confidence at any size since. (Then her bank account dried up …)
– ContactMusic.com
★ At a press conference in NYC, Neil Patrick Harris has responded to rumors about him potentially taking over “The Late Show” from retiring host David Letterman next year. The 40-year-old actor, best known for his role on CBS-TV’s just-wrapped “How I Met Your Mother”, says he’s ‘super-focused’ on his hit Broadway show “Hedwig & The Angry Itch” at the moment, so the possibility of late-night TV hasn’t been considered yet. Quote: “But I’m a big fan of CBS and (CEO) Les Moonves, so who knows?” (Hmm. Has someone left the door open?)
– HollywoodReporter.com
★ Hollywood’s new ‘it’ girl, 22-year-old Shailene Woodley, admits she just doesn’t care about fashion. The “Divergent” actress says her dramatic red carpet looks at the movie’s international premieres have all been due to input from her stylist, who tells her exactly what to wear. Woodley claims she doesn’t actually have many clothes and would always show up wearing one of the 3 T-shirts she owns given the chance. (Well, so much for your shot at oodles of free designer togs.)
– Yahoo! Lifestyle
★ And troubled pseudo-actress Lindsay Lohan’s friends are ‘worried’ about her plans to attend the Coachella festival, which gets underway this weekend. The 27-year-old, who recently confessed to having ‘one glass of wine’ since leaving rehab for the 6th time, is planning to head to the Indio CA event with her mother Dina. But those close to her are not confident Lindsay’s mom is a competent chaperone at what is basically ‘a big alcohol and drug festival’. (And besides … it’s embarrassing for a 27-year-old to attend a giant rock bash … with her mommy.)
– ContactMusic.com

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “American Idol” (FOX/CTV) – The finalists perform songs from the 1980s for the judges.
• “Arsenio Hall” (syndicated) – Nick Cannon (“White People Party Music”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Neon Trees (“Pop Psychology”).
• “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” (CBS) – Jake Bugg (“Shangri La”).
• “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV2) – Fitz & The Tantrums (“More Than Just a Dream”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS/Omni1) – Real Estate (“Atlas”).
• “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters); Krist Novoselic (Nirvana); Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Against Me! – Tonight their new Spring headlining tour begins its North American run in Omaha NE. The 21-date trek runs through April 6th in Asheville NC. Support acts include Laura Stevenson and Cheap Girls.
• Beady Eye – Liam Gallagher (ex-Oasis) & Nicole Appleton (ex-All Saints) reportedly filed for a ‘quickie divorce’ in London yesterday. Their 6-year marriage blew up in July when he was said to have fathered a child with a journalist. He later moved in with his manager, Debbie Gwyther.
• Beck – His 2014 tour in support of his new album “Morning Phase” kicks off tonight in Santa Barbara CA. The dates include a number of festival appearances, including both weekends of Coachella, Firefly Festival, Pitchfork Music Festival and more.
• Bruno Mars – You may not have noticed but he wrote CeeLo Green’s “F[orget] You”.
• Haim – Tonight in San Francisco CA they begin a North American headlining tour that runs through May 24th in Vancouver BC.
• Justin Bieber – He has a new sports car thanks to his new pal, Cash Money Records co-founder Bryan ‘Birdman’ Williams. The shiny red Bugatti, one of the fastest cars in the world, is estimated to have cost $2 million.
• Justin Timberlake – His hit “Rock Your Body” was originally written by Pharrell for Michael Jackson’s final album, “Invincible”.
• Miley Cyrus – She scrapped her Charlotte NC gig this week less than an hour before it was due to start because she was too sick to sing. The reason being given is an onset of flu, but rumors of a pregnancy keep floating around.
• Rascal Flatts – Gary LeVox has admitted to lip-syncing (badly) during their performance of “Rewind” at the ACM Awards. The excuse is he lost his voice due to a heavy concert schedule, but it looks bad after host Blake Shelton’s onstage bragging about the show’s ‘live music’.

BS BUZZWORDS:
New cutting-edge vocab …
✓ ‘Global Weirding’ – The worldwide increase in the rate and extent of extreme or unpredictable weather conditions. There’s a broad scientific consensus that climate change will bring us a wide variety of freakish weather in the years ahead.
✓ ‘ICEing’ – Parking a non-electric vehicle (one with an Internal Combustion Engine) in a designated plug-in charging spot for electric cars. (“Sorry I’m late for the meeting … I was ICEd in the parking garage this morning.”)
✓ ‘Unplugged Wedding’ – A wedding at which no one is allowed to bring phones so that there will be no candid photos posted to Facebook or Instagram.

LOOKING FOR WORK? CLEAN UP YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT!
We all know potential employers check out our online profiles. So not posting inappropriate pics when looking for work is a no-brainer. But have you considered that those same hiring types may very well be looking at more than your LinkedIn profile … as in the number of Twitter followers you have, your Klout score, your last blog or Tumblr post? And most likely they’ll Google you for good measure, to see what pops up first. These days employers take to social networks to find out about more than just work history details about potential new hires; they also want to get ‘a sense of who they are’. The top 3 platforms you need to consider sprucing up: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook. But don’t forget Pinterest, Instagram, even Skype. (And maybe reconsider your Silk Road account.)
– iVillage.ca

FROM THE BS POLL VAULT:
A statistical look at who we are and the things we do …
• 28% of us still use good old fashioned ice cube trays at home.
• 20% of men have forgotten their wedding anniversary, so have 10% of women.
• 13% of parents admit that they ask their kids for advice on fashion.
• 12% of divorcées say videogaming was one of the reasons they divorced their guy.
• 11% of us think the scariest creature on Earth is the cockroach.
• 10% of us have actually purchased bowling shoes at one time or another.

TWEETS AIN’T SO SWEET:
Twitter was originally created to help people feel more connected. The irony? Actively using the service may spell trouble for users’ actual relationships. New research from the University of Missouri has found that active Twitter users are more likely to experience Twitter-related conflict in their romantic relationships, which in turn leads to other relationship issues like emotional or physical cheating, breakup, and even divorce. Bottom line is, when social networking site use becomes problematic in one’s romantic relationship, risk of negative relationship outcomes may follow. The solution? Couples can operate shared social media accounts, or simply cut back on their daily use. (Now there’s a concept!)
– CNET.com

HAPPENIN’ APPS:
A BS review of some of the more interesting new apps on the market …
✓ The free iOS app ‘Quit It’ helps you break the smoking habit by giving you astonishing stats about how much money you’re saving by not buying packs, how much tar you’re not consuming, and how many cigs you’ve managed to not smoke. Another called ‘Kwit’, free for iOS and Android, aims to make the quitting process a game, creating levels and ranks for your journey to becoming the ‘Ultimate Kwitter’.
✓ Sometimes you forget to floss or to replace your toothbrush every 3 months. ‘Brush DJ’, a free iOS and Android app, is your new pocket dentist. It times you while you brush, reminds you when to get a new toothbrush, keeps you on track with dentist appointments and more.
✓ Can’t stop biting your nails? Try hypnosis. The $5.99 iOS app ‘Stop Nail Biting’ comes with recorded hypnosis audio, so you can try kicking the habit in your sleep. There’s also a photo diary, which encourages users to post photos of their progress. The app then provides visual reminders of successes along the way.
– Adapted from Mashable.com

BS AMAZING FOOD FACTS:
• A strawberry is not actually a berry, but a banana is.
– List25.com
• Dark chocolate is feasted on by ‘good’ microbes in the gut, resulting in the production of anti-inflammatory compounds.
– “New York Daily News”
• A cup of peas has more protein than a hard-boiled egg.
– AARP.com

BS CHRONOMETER 04.09.14

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1926 [88] Hugh Hefner, Chicago IL, “Playboy” magazine founder/creepy old man who wed 26-year-old Crystal Harris on New Years Eve 2012

1954 [60] Dennis Quaid, Houston TX, TV actor (“Vegas” 2012-13)/movie actor (“GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra”, “Flight Of the Phoenix”)

1966 [48] Cynthia Nixon, NYC, movie actress (“Sex & The City” films)/TV actress (‘Senator Armiston’ on “Alpha House” since 2013, “The Big C” 2010-11, “Sex & The City” 1998-2004)

1980 [34] Albert Hammond Jr, LA CA, indie rock guitarist (The Strokes-“Under Cover of Darkness”, “Juicebox”)

1982 [32] Jay Baruchel, Ottawa ON, movie actor (RoboCop”, “Knocked Up”)  UP NEXT: “How to Train Your Dragon 2”, opening June 13th.

1986 [28] Leighton Meester, Fort Worth TX, TV actress (“Gossip Girl” 2007-12)/movie actress (“Country Strong”)/pop singer (Cobra Starship f/Leighton Meester-“Good Girls Go Bad”)

1990 [24] Kristen Stewart, LA CA, movie actress (“The Runaways”, “Twilight Saga” films)

1998 [16] Elle Fanning, Conyers GA, movie actress (“We Bought a Zoo”, “Super 8”)/younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning  COMING UP: “Maleficent”, opening May 30th.

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Cherish an Antique Day”, one of the few things that increases in value the older it gets.

• “Name Yourself Day”, a day for anybody with a name they hate to tag themselves with a brand new label.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2005 [09] Britain’s Prince Charles & Camilla Parker Bowles are wed in Windsor, England

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
2004 [10] Oldies singer Tom Jones’ manager – his son Mark – orders the 63-year-old former sex symbol to stop wearing tight leather pants onstage

2008 [06] Elton John’s benefit concert at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall raises $2.5 million for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2009 [05] Honda FCX Clarity, a 4-door sedan billed as the 1st hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicle, wins the ‘World Green Car Award’ at the New York Auto Show

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1992 [22] ‘Heaviest Chocolate Easter Egg’ weighs 10,483 lbs and measures over 23-feet-high (Ringwood, Australia)

COMING UP . . .
[Thurs] Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Brooklyn NY)
[Fri] “Draft Day”; “Oculus”; “Rio 2” open in movie theaters
[Fri] Coachella Festival begins (Indio CA)
[Fri] World Parkinson’s Disease Day
[Sun] “MTV Movie Awards” (MTV)
[Sun] “Mad Men” season debut (AMC)
This Week Is … Bat Appreciation Week
This Month Is … Amateur Radio Month

BULL’S BITS

WHAT GIRLS SAY … WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN:
• “Do I look OK?” … If you say anything other than yes, I’ll be upset.
• “Is this cute?” … Again, say yes.
• “I’m fine.” … I’m not fine.
• “I’m over it.” … No, I’m not.
• “I honestly don’t even care.” … I care so much.
• “This salad is so filling.” … I would give anything for a burger.
• “I’m on a diet.” … I haven’t eaten today. Yet.
• “I hate makeup.” … I am so freaking thankful that makeup exists.
• “I love your dress.” … I’m pissed that you bought it before me.
• “Am I overreacting?” … Of course I’m overreacting but I want you to support me anyway.
• “We’ve been through so much together.” … We got into a fight one time.
• “I love being single.” … Being single is fine until I’m watching a rom-com alone.
– Adapted from BuzzFeed.com

BS WORD OF THE DAY:
In the interest of promoting more erudite language as well as general goofiness, here’s a truly weird word from “Foyle’s Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words” for you to toss around for the day (award callers for tying it in with whatever they’re talking about). Today’s word is … ‘nugatory’ [noo-guh-tawr-ee], an adjective meaning of no real effect, pointless.

BS RANDOM JOKE:
There are 3 types of learners: Those who learn by seeing, those who learn by hearing, and those who have to pee on the electric fence to learn their lesson.

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
• The katzenklavier (‘cat piano’) was a musical instrument made using cats. Designed by 17th-century German scholar Athanasius Kircher, it consisted of a row of caged cats with different voice pitches. How was each cat ‘played’?
a. The keyboardist patted it on the head when it was its turn to yowl.
b. The keyboardist threw a sardine to the correct cat.
c. The keyboardist stuck nails in their tails. [CORRECT. Perhaps why it never caught on?]

• The Northern Leopard Frog swallows its prey with help from which part of its body?
a. Its left rear leg.
b. Its eyes. [CORRECT. It retracts them into its head to help push food down the throat.)
c. Its double stomach diaphragm.
– Sourced from BuzzFeed.com

BS WEB GOODIE:
This is brilliant! Tired of twits weaving all over the road while texting? This website shames San Francisco CA drivers who text by slapping their mug on a giant billboard as well as online …
NET: http://www.twitspotting.com

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What’s in your junk drawer that you can’t live without? (Top answers in a recent survey on the topic – keys, rubber bands, birthday candles.)

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: Men feel most confident on a date when they are wearing THIS.
Answer: Something blue. (University of Utah)

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
The single raindrop never feels responsible for the flood.