February 4, 2015

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Wednesday, February 4, 2015           Edition: #5390


Sheet Happens!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Simon Cowell was reportedly hypnotized and fell asleep while holding auditions for the upcoming season of “Britain’s Got Talent” (ITV). The 55-year-old music mogul was reportedly put under a spell by Krystyna Lennon and her ‘hypnodog’ Princess. Lennon, a life coach and advanced therapeutic hypnotherapist, took over her uncle’s dog hypnodog show last year. Cowell was ‘under’ for several minutes before eventually being awakened by the German Spitz. There’s no word as yet whether the act will make it onto the reality competition which returns for a 9th season later in 2015.
– UPI.com
★ Robin Williams’ children say they’re ‘heartbroken’ that their stepmother is contesting the late star’s will. Williams’ widow Susan Schneider is locked in a court battle with his 3 grown-up children from previous marriages over possessions he bequeathed to them. Schneider is asking to keep the contents of the home she shared with Williams prior to his suicide death last year. The children are claiming she’s withheld some of their father’s belongings from them, and accuse her of trying to interfere with his final wishes. The case will go to court March 30th.
– WENN.com
★ Previously unseen photographs of The Beatles and the Rolling Stones have gone up for auction online. The candid images, which were captured by the bands’ sometime US tour manager Bob Bonis, are up for sale on eBay. Each pic in the ‘Bob Bonis Archives’ has a starting bid of $175. The images are touted as offering ‘a remarkable backstage pass to truly amazing, very human moments’.
– ContactMusic.com
★ And Bruce Jenner will reportedly do a tell-all interview with ABC News journalist Diane Sawyer in which he’ll discuss his transition from male to female. Sawyer’s one-off special with the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”‘ star is expected to air in May. A source reveals the 65-year-old former Olympic athlete opted for a sit-down with Sawyer because she has long been a supporter of the LGBT community. 69-year-old Sawyer stepped down as “ABC World News” anchor last year. Work on the interview is expected to commence this week. An unscripted E! series following Jenner’s transition, tentatively titled “Bruce Jenner – My Story”, is already underway.
– BangShowbiz.com

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “American Idol” (FOX) – The singers perform in hope of advancing to the next round.
• “Conan” (TBS/CTV) – Cage the Elephant (“Melophobia”).
• “Fresh Off the Boat” (ABC) – Debut of a new sitcom about an immigrant family in the 1990s, based on chef Eddie Huang’s best-selling memoir of the same name. The story begins as the clan moves from the Chinatown area of Washington DC to suburban Orlando FL.
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – James Williamson (“Re-Licked”).
• “Late Late Show” (CBS/Omni 1) – Guest host John Mayer (“Paradise Valley”).
• “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV) – Dinosaur Jr frontman J Mascis (“Tied To a Star”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS/Omni1) – Dierks Bentley (“Riser”).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Adele – She’s reportedly revived plans to work with Phil Collins after a series of delays halted the collaboration last year. A source tells “Daily Mirror” that she’s now back on track in work mode and their collaboration is happening once more.
• Beyoncé – She’s reportedly working with ‘exercise physiologist’ Marco Borges to launch a home delivery vegan meal service in NYC. “New York Post” says she decided to work with Borges on the plant-based home delivery meal service after she & hubby Jay Z followed his “22 Days Nutrition” program in December 2013 to get into better shape.
• Carrie Underwood – She says she and her NHL hockey player-hubby Mike Fisher (Nashville Predators) haven’t picked a baby name as yet. The 31-year-old country star is due in April.
• Lady Antebellum – They’ve announced their first-ever Bridgestone Arena show in Nashville TN for September 11th. The stop has been added to their 65-city “Wheels Up 2015 Tour”, which launches in Europe February 28th and comes to North America in May.
• Lady Gaga – She says she designed her latest unisex fragrance, Eau De Gaga, to be used by lovers … post sex. Quote: ”I’m very proud to announce that my latest unisex fragrance is now available at Target. It’s fresh, clean, ready for sex heaven!”
• Gorillaz – Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett are working on a new album for the cartoon band. Hewlett confirmed the rumor after he posted a new portrait of guitarist ‘Noodle’ on Instagram. The group’s last album was “The Fall”, released in 2011.
• Justin Timberlake – He’s now confirmed what fans were speculating for months … that he and his actress-wife Jessica Biel are expecting their first child. Timberlake has posted a photo across social media of himself kissing Biel’s baby bump.
• Passion Pit – The indie rockers have announced they will release their 3rd album, entitled “Kindred”, sometime in April. The exact release date is yet to be nailed down.
• Suge Knight – The rap mogul has now been formally charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with an incident in which prosecutors say he ran over 2 men in a Southern California parking lot last week, killing one of them. His defence: “Didn’t see them.”
• Taylor Swift – She’s posted a piece on her blog explaining why she won’t be performing at the Grammys this weekend, and it has a lot to do with her upcoming “1989 World Tour”. But don’t worry, Taylor will be there Sunday night to present the Grammy Award for ‘Best New Artist’.

CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER?
We’re all getting used to swiping a card to do all kinds of things. But at Epicenter, a new hi-tech office block in Sweden, they are trying a different approach … a chip under the skin. Among the functions the chip enables – allowing employees to open doors and to use a photocopier without a traditional pass card. Other functions will be available in future, such as the ability to pay in the office cafeteria. It’s even possible to have an electronic business card programmed on the chip that can be accessed with the swipe of a smartphone. The tiny RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chip, about the size of a grain of rice, is typically implanted in a hand. The technology promises to do away with our need for PIN codes and passwords. (Would you volunteer to be ‘chipped.?)
– BBC Technology

FROM THE BS POLL VAULT:
A BS breakdown of who we are and what we do …
• 60% of women say a man with good manners is more attractive.
• 40% of newlyweds say what they most miss about being single is having their own bathroom.
• 38% of us are allowed to dress casually at work … every day.
• 15% of women demand that their men pluck their eyebrows.
• 10% of women say they’d be offended if a guy used a coupon during a date.
• 7% of us predict that we’ll become rich within our lifetime.

THE LOOK OF A LEADER:
People can tell if you are a natural leader … just by looking at your face. Scientists at the UK’s Warwick University have found that billionaire business leaders tend to share certain common facial characteristics. In a study, volunteers were able to pick out successful business people from a selection of faces they didn’t know with very high accuracy. That’s likely because the facial features are those that we recognize as ambitious, disciplined, and competent, such as thin, young-looking faces, long noses, and close-set eyes. It’s thought that people with these facial characteristics are often picked for promotion over those without. (Long nose and close-set eyes … wouldn’t that be a weasel?)
– Metro.co.uk

LIFE-CHANGING HABITS TO LIVE BY:
Want to have a healthier, happier, more satisfying life? Try incorporating some of these tips …
✓ Give at least one genuine compliment every day.
✓ Thank your partner for the small, expected things.
✓ Focus on adding more healthy foods to your diet, rather than eliminating the ‘bad’.
✓ Take responsibility for what you did. Promise to do better next time … and actually mean it.
✓ Stop looking at any electronic screens within an hour of bedtime.
✓ Walk outside, even for a short while, every day.
✓ Try to read one book a week.
✓ Set up a to-do list for the next day as the last thing you do before leaving work.
✓ Help people without expecting things in return.
✓ Fill half your plate with veggies as often as you can.
✓ Try to see the good in people … including yourself.
✓ Make your bed as soon as you get up. Fold your clothes and put them away when the laundry’s done. And do the dishes right after you eat.
✓ Make sure there’s protein and fiber in your breakfast.
✓ Exercise a little every day.
✓ Every week, write down 5 things you are grateful for.
– Sourced from BuzzFeed.com

BS BUZZWORDS:
New cutting-edge vocab …
• ‘Bombogenesis’ – The rapid intensification of a massive storm due to a sharp drop in barometric pressure.
• ‘Hashtag-Friendly’ – A word or phrase that’s short and memorable enough to be converted into a Twitter hashtag, possibly to the point of being dumbed-down or overly simplified.
• ‘Uberization’ – Based on the Uber taxi service phenomenon, the process of converting traditional jobs and services into tasks that can be requested on-demand.

THE BEDTIME ADVANTAGE:
Our internal body clock has such a dramatic impact on sports performance that it could alter the chances of Olympic gold, say researchers at Britain’s University of Birmingham. Their studies show that athletic performance can vary by as much as 26% at various times of the day. Early risers reach their athletic peak around lunchtime, while night owls are at their physical best in the evening. That’s because the body clock controls everything – from alertness to the risk of a heart attack – in a daily ‘circadian rhythm’. It’s thought that adjusting the body clock of athletes could make a huge difference. Just a 1% improvement in performance can be the difference between 4th place and a medal in many Olympic events. (Maybe coach Pete Carroll should have slept in longer before the Super Bowl?)
– BBC Health

FOR THE RECORD:
Beginning February 13th, 45-year-old Lewis Pugh is set to perform 5 swims in quick succession in the sub-zero waters of the Antarctic, breaking the record for the most southerly swim ever undertaken. He’s no stranger to extreme cold – he was the first to swim at the North Pole, enduring temperatures of -1.7 C degrees (the coldest seawater can get without freezing solid). Afterward, it took Pugh 4 months to regain the feeling in his hands. Each of the 5 swims – while wearing only a Speedo – is expected to last around 20 minutes in the sub-zero water. Pugh, a keen conservationist, aims to raise awareness of the Ross Sea and to campaign for it to become a Marine Protected Area.
– Stuff.co.nz

BS AMAZING ANIMAL FACTS:
✓ For every human on Earth there are 1.6 million ants.
✓ Armadillos almost always give birth to quadruplets.
✓ Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn.
– List25.com

BS CHRONOMETER 02.04.15


TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1948 [67] Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier), Detroit MI, classic rocker (“School’s Out”, “Eighteen”)/syndicated radio personality (“Nights With Alice Cooper”)/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2011)

1969 [46] Duncan Coutts, St Catharines ON, rock bassist (Our Lady Peace-“Heavyweight”, “Clumsy”)

1972 [43] Nicolle Wallace (Devenish), Orange County CA, TV personality (“The View” since 2014)

1975 [40] Rick Burch, Mesa AZ, rock bassist (Jimmy Eat World-“Pain”, “The Middle”)

1977 [38] Gavin DeGraw, South Fallsburg NY, pop singer (“Not Over You”, “I Don’t Want to Be”)

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Homemade Soup Day”, a day to chop and blend and simmer, creating yummy goodness in a bowl all on your own. AllRecipes.com has over 1,000 recipes for homemade soup.

• “Thank a Letter Carrier Day”, your chance to say thanks to the person who delivers your mail.

• “USO Day”, honoring the 74th anniversary of the United Service Organization, which continues to provide support for American troops and their families worldwide.

• “World Cancer Day”, an annual observance to encourage prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. It’s led by the International Union Against Cancer, a global consortium of more than 280 cancer-fighting organizations in over 90 countries.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2004 [11] Online social networking site Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg (and how many thousands of hours have you wasted since?)

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2008 [07] NASA transmits The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” in the direction of the star Polaris, 431 light years from Earth, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song’s recording, the 45th anniversary of the Deep Space Network, and the 50th anniversary of NASA

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1982 [33] ‘Indoor Distance Record For a Paper Airplane’ set at 154 ft or 47 m (Tacoma WA)

COMING UP . . .
[Thurs] World Nutella Day
[Fri] “Jupiter Ascending”; “Seventh Son”; “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” open in movie theaters
[Fri] Canadian Maple Syrup Day
[Fri] Bubble Gum Day
[Fri] Wear Red Day
[Sat] 67th DGA Awards (Los Angeles)
[Sat] Dump Your Significant Jerk Day
[Sun] “57th Grammy Awards” (CBS)
This Week is … Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week
This Month Is … International Boost Self-Esteem Month

BULL’S BITS


MORE BS QUESTIONS PLAGUING HUMANITY:
• If you go to the North Pole and walk in circles at the same rate as the world turns, will you get older?
• How come we call a restaurant server a ‘waiter’ when it’s us that actually waits?
• If Super Glue is so great, how come you can take the lid off?
• All things considered, isn’t insanity the only alternative?
• How young can you die of old age?

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What was your absolute worst intern experience?

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
Which was banned by BBC-TV in Britain for a time for being ‘too authoritarian’?
a. “Monty Python”
b. “60 Minutes”
c. “Sesame Street” [CORRECT]
– “Quite Interesting”

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Senior moments are like vitamins … everyone gets one a day.

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: An average one of THESE travels at 3 mph (5 km/h).
Answer: Snowflake.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Happiness doesn’t always make you feel happy.

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