BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
TV-film actor Jason Segel says he’s quitting CBS-TV’s “How I Met Your Mother” after its upcoming 8th season, because “it’s great to do some ‘Rated R’ stuff again” (BS translation: movies pay better) . . . Former “Harry Potter” actress Emma Watson tells EW.com she’s baffled by rumors linking her to the female lead in the bigscreen adaptation of “Fifty Shades of Grey”, claiming she hasn’t received a call and hasn’t even read the book (somebody wants more moolah) . . . The original ‘Chewbacca’ head worn by actor Peter Mayhew in the “Star Wars” films has been sold for $176,000 at a Hollywood memorabilia auction (unbelievably, a 1938 copy of Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone With the Wind”, signed by the entire cast of the classic film, only fetched $135,000) . . . Movie actor-turned-exec producer Vince Vaughn is rebooting the TV classic “The Brady Bunch” (1969-74) as a new CBS-TV series focusing on the youngest of the clan, ‘Bobby Brady’, as a remarried father of a blended family (what, no ‘Marcia’? meh) . . . Word has it Ashton Kutcher has taken Mila Kunis on a vacation to exotic Bali (not something ‘friends’ do) . . . This week Lea Michele is filming scenes with Kate Hudson for a string of new “Glee” episodes, in which Hudson plays a dance teacher (the struggling show has gone back to stunt-casting) . . . Actress Jessica Biel says she’d still consider baring all on the bigscreen even though her last nude scenes, playing an exotic dancer in “Powder Blue”, failed to generate much interest and the film went straight-to-DVD (her next film, “Total Recall”, opens Friday) . . . And 36-year-old “Total Recall” star Colin Farrell says these days he eats really well, ‘drinks loads of green tea’ and ingests ‘a sh[ee]tload of vitamins’ (as opposed to the old days when he just drank loads and inhaled a ‘sh[ee]tload of drugs).
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Conan” (TBS/CTV) – Tenacious D (“Rize Of the Fenix”).
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Lenny Kravitz (“Black & White America”). Rerun.
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CHCH) – Serj Tankian (“Harakiri”) performs on the outdoor stage. Rerun.
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS/NTV/Omni1) – Maroon 5 (“Overexposed”). Rerun.
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Aerosmith – Their new album, “Music From Another Dimension!”, is now expected out November 6th. It will feature a duet with Carrie Underwood on a country-crossover ballad. Johnny Depp and Julian Lennon have also participated in the recording sessions.
• Jay-Z – His Labor Day weekend “Made In America Festival” in Philadelphia has gotten even bigger, adding Chris Cornell, Drake, The Hives, Jill Scott, and Run DMC to the roster.
• Katy Perry – “Wide Awake” will become her 9th chart-topper as it reaches #1 on the “Billboard/Nielsen BDS Mainstream Top 40” this week. Perry ties Rihanna’s record for the most #1 singles in the almost 20-year history of the chart.
• Lady Gaga – On her LittleMonsters.com social networking site, she says to expect her next album before Spring 2013. Last month she tweeted that the album’s title will be revealed in September.
• Snoop Dogg – He claims he was ‘born again’ during a visit to Jamaica in February and is embracing reggae instead of the culture of guns he once rapped about. He’ll release a reggae album called “Reincarnated” this Fall. Oh and he’s also got a new name … Snoop Lion.
• System Of a Down – Tonight the reunited rockers join the Deftones on a brief North American tour that gets underway in Philadelphia PA and wraps up in Chicago IL on August 15th. The Deftones are currently recording their next album, due out later in 2012.
• The Who – Yesterday 10 fans traded in tickets from a cancelled 1979 Who concert in Providence, Rhode Island for duckets to the band’s upcoming February gig there. The vintage tickets will be auctioned off to raise funds for the Special Olympics of Rhode Island.
COMING ATTRACTIONS:
A BS selection of movies in the making …
• “Cali” – 22-year-old Alex Pettyfer (“Magic Mike”) is set to star as Kristen Stewart’s lover in this edgy action movie about a couple who disappears with a wad of cash after pulling a con, only to discover she needs to ‘return from the dead’ in order to save her sister’s life.
• “The Grand Seduction” – Don McKellar’s English-language remake of the 2003 French hit “La Grand Séduction” stars “Harry Potter” actor Brendan Gleeson & Taylor Kitsch (“Battleship”) in a comedy about a small village attempting to seduce a doctor to stay on as a permanent resident.
• “The Internship” – “Wedding Crashers” co-stars Owen Wilson & Vince Vaughn are re-teaming for this comedy about 40-somethings who are forced reinvent themselves as interns at a technology company after being left behind in the digital world. Vaughn also wrote the script.
• “Pierre, Pierre” – Russell Brand is in talks to star in this politically-incorrect road movie about an obnoxious Frenchman whose attempt to transport a stolen painting to London is interrupted by a series of bizarre characters, including a serial killer and his own brothel-owning mother.
• Untitled Cameron Crowe Comedy – Actress Emma Stone (“The Amazing Spider-Man”) has signed to star in this romantic comedy, rumored to be a rewrite of Crowe’s previously shelved project “Deep Tiki”, which he planned to make after 2005’s “Elizabethtown”.
THINK TO CHANGE GEARS:
Parlee Cycles’ new ‘Prius X Parlee’ bike looks ordinary enough, but the helmet gives it away – plastic tentacles reach down from the headgear, pressing metal sensors against the cyclist’s scalp. This array of neurotransmitters actually reads your mind, sending signals to a smartphone attached to the bicycle’s handlebars, which then connects to the gear system. With a little training, a cyclist can change gears just by thinking. One kind of brainwave commands the bike to downshift; another causes it to shift up. The ‘PXP’ is a joint venture with several companies, including Toyota. (Aha! We can see where this technology is going.)
– TheGlobeandMail.com
DIGITAL MONEY-MAKERS:
Digital media is exploding. Half of us now read news on tablets, virtually all music tracks are bought electronically, and nearly a tenth of Americans are ditching cable for Internet TV. Here are the companies generating the most revenue from digital content and/or from advertising around that content, according to PaidContent.org’s 2nd annual listing …
10. Microsoft (Xbox, MSN TV, Windows Live)
9. Tencent (online & smartphone services, advertising)
8. Thomson Reuters (news wire, business information)
7. WPP (advertising)
6. Yahoo (search engine, email)
5. Apple (iTunes, Apps Store)
4. Reed Elsevier (business information)
3. Bloomberg (business information)
2. China Mobile (telecom)
1. Google (search engine, gmail, YouTube, Google Docs)
(Perhaps surprisingly, Facebook only ranks 11th.)
– “The Atlantic”
ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN PERIL:
An organization that tracks killings of environmental activists says the numbers have risen dramatically in the last 3 years. Improved reporting may be one reason, but Global Witness suggests the rising death toll is also a consequence of intensifying battles over dwindling supplies of natural resources, particularly in Latin America and Asia. Over 700 people have died over the past decade during protests or investigations into ecologically sensitive projects such as mining, logging, urban development, and wildlife poaching. (In the future ‘water bombs’ may take on whole new meaning.)
– Associated Press
YOUNG & EMERGING:
Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts is conducting an ongoing study of a relatively new life stage that it calls ‘emerging adulthood’, which covers the ages 18-to-29. Among its survey findings …
• 65% of emerging adults say ‘this time of my life is full of uncertainty’.
• 60% say ‘adulthood will be more enjoyable’ than their current lives.
• 52% have ‘daily’ or ‘almost daily’ contact with parents via text, email, phone, or in-person.
• 34% say ‘my parents are more involved in my life than I really want them to be’.
• 16% ‘frequently’ get financial support from parents, 31% ‘occasionally’, 38% ‘little or none’.
– “USA Today”
BS THINGS GUYS SHOULD DITCH BEFORE TURNING 30:
A few suggestions on what may be causing your arrested development into adulthood …
✗ Futon – As an adult, your bed and couch should be 2 separate things, not a single piece of furniture that hurts both your spinal cord and your dignity.
✗ Ramen Noodles – The criteria for what constitutes a meal should no longer be whether it costs less than a quarter.
✗ Dirty Bathroom – The scummy, toxic charm of a rock club restroom doesn’t translate to the home of a 30-year-old man. Get out the damn Clorox!
✗ Novelty Condoms – Although putting something on is better than nothing, the smirking face of Gene Simmons isn’t a good look on somebody in their 3rd decade of being alive.
✗ Creative Facial Hair – By the time you’re 30, you shouldn’t need a Fu Manchu, Starburns, or a Handlebar to announce to the world that you’re unique and interesting.
✗ Virtual Worlds – Ditch the plastic videogame instruments and learn to play a real Fender Strat. Dump the digital simulators and learn to fly for real. Forget driving games, buy a Lamborghini.
– Condensed from “Men’s Health”
NO Zs?
Experts say these are some of the most common reasons for not sleeping well …
• Relationship Strife
• In Bed with Baby
• Aging
• Busy Schedule
• Depression and/or Anxiety
• Medication
• Environment
• Too Much Napping
• Late-Night Eating
– Sixwise.com
WHEN’S DINNER?
How mixed up is our dining history? To start with, the word ‘dinner’ comes from the Latin for breakfast. The evening meal has always varied depending on work hours, preparation time, and, most importantly, available light. Nowadays when you open your refrigerator door you summon forth more light than the total amount enjoyed by most 18th century households. Darkness and dining were not happy partners. So it wasn’t until the 20th century, with the 8-hour workday and the spread of indoor lighting, that we settled on breakfast, lunch, and dinner at morning, noon, and evening. (The term ‘three square meals’ … relatively new.)
– “Christian Science Monitor”
FOR THE RECORD:
Guiness Records has just verified that the ‘World’s Largest Lollipop’ has been created at the See’s Candies factory in Burlingame, California. The chocolate-flavored record-breaker weighs in at a massive 3176.5 kg (7,003 lb). It’s mounted on a stick that’s 11 ft -10 ins tall. (How many licks to get to the center of this puppy?)
– Neatorama.com
BS AMAZING FACT:
The girl’s name with the biggest jump in popularity in the US in 2011 was ‘Briella’.
– PopBitch.com
BS CHRONOMETER 08.02.12
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1932 [80] Peter O’Toole, Connemara, Ireland, retired movie actor (“Lawrence of Arabia”)/Lifetime Achievement Academy Award (2003)
1939 [73] Wes Craven, Cleveland OH, horror movie director (“Scream” films, “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies)
1964 [48] Mary-Louise Parker, Fort Jackson SC, TV actress (“Weeds” since 2005, “The West Wing” 2001-06)/movie actress (“Fried Green Tomatoes”)
1970 [42] Kevin Smith, Red Bank NJ, filmmaker (“Clerks”, “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”)
1976 [36] Sam Worthington, Godalming UK [raised Perth, Australia], movie actor (“Avatar”, “Clash Of the Titans”)
BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Ice Cream Sandwich Day”, celebrating the chilly goodness of stuffing ice cream between a couple of wafers. Stone cold brilliant!
• “Make Some Old-Fashioned Lemonade Day”, squeezing real lemons and using real sugar and real water. Pucker up!
• “Roller Skating Day”, marking the opening of the world’s first roller rink in London on this date in 1875. The first skates had wheels in line.
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
2007 [05] Elvis Presley Enterprises announces plans to revamp ‘Graceland’ with a visitors’ center, convention hotel, and hi-tech multimedia displays
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2007 [05] Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards signs a $7-million deal for the rights to his upcoming autobiography, “Life” (released in 2010)
TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1992 [20] American Jackie Joyner-Kersee becomes 1st woman ever to win 2 consecutive Olympic gold medals in the heptathlon
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1975 [37] Distance record for ‘Champagne Cork Popping’ of 103 ft is set by Gary Mahan of La Habra Heights, California
COMING UP . . .
[Fri] Watermelon Day
[Sat] Chocolate Chip Day
[Sun] 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death
[Sun] Assistance Dog Day
[Sun] International Beer Day
[Sun] Sisters Day
This Week Is … Fraud Awareness Week
This Month Is … Immunization Awareness Month
BULL’S BITS
OTHER BS SYNCHRONIZED SPORTS:
We’ve been watching ‘synchronized diving’ (adopted as an Olympic sport in 2000) and it confirms our feeling it may be the dumbest, most-manufactured sport ever. If the idea is that 2 people doing something is better than 1, then how about …
✓ Synchronized Fencing
✓ Synchronized Weightlifting
✓ Synchronized Show Jumping
✓ Synchronized Boxing
✓ Synchronized Ping Pong
✓ Synchronized Beach Volleyball
✓ Synchronized Golf
PHONE STARTER:
☎ What’s the worst sightseeing tour you’ve ever been on?
BS RANDOM JOKE:
I just bought a cured ham. Wonder what it had?
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: More women than men say THIS would not have an impact on their relationship.
Answer: If their partner got fat.
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
A life lived in fear is half a life lived.
