Tuesday, January 2, 2018 – Edition: #6026

BS SUBSCRIBER NOTE:
Happy New Year!  All “Bull Sheet” subscribers have received account credits for missed service days over the holiday season.  We are all set to go with another great year of BS!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ America Ferrera is pregnant.  The “Superstore” actress made the happy announcement Sunday evening on Instagram.  Alongside a photo of her and husband Ryan Piers Williams, and holding a onesie, she wrote: “We’re welcoming one more face to kiss in 2018! Wishing you #MásBesos in the New Year!” It will be the couple’s first child.  The couple got married in 2011 and celebrated 12 years together with a trip to Iceland in the summer.
(The English-Spanish dictionary says that “Mas Besos” means “Lots of kisses”.)
-MSN
★ Chrissy Teigen and John Legend went after an extreme right-winger who suggested the couple was running a pedophilia ring and trafficking their daughter … and it ended with Twitter taking away the user’s coveted blue checkmark. It all started Saturday night when Liz Crokin — a former “verified” political conspiracy theorist — posted photos of Teigen and Legend’s daughter and included the hashtag: #qanon.   The mention of “Qanon” is a conspiracy theory by the alt-right that the Democratic Party is wholly involved in a child sex-trafficking ring.  Teigen immediately lashed back and also called out Twitter for allowing Crokin to be verified.  Eventually Twitter responded by taking away Crokin’s verification.
-TheBlast
★ You may be hearing less from Kim Kardashian in 2018. According to a recent post on her website, one of her New Year’s resolutions is to use her phone less.  The thinking is that she wants to devote more time to her family, rather than spend hours on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. In addition to staying off her phone and social media, Kardashian has also vowed to spend more time in 2018 working out. It is believed that she and Kanye will welcome a surrogate baby girl in April.
(Less of KK on social media?  I’ll believe it when I don’t see it!)
-HollywoodInsider
★ Amanda Bynes is reportedly gearing up to reclaim her comedy crown, and she has revealed that she’s hoping to stage her acting comeback this year.  Bynes announced an indefinite hiatus from acting in 2010, before speaking out about her struggle with mental health and drug use earlier in 2017.
-Cosmopolitan
★ Flags are flying half-mast in Guy Fieri‘s Flavortown because Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar has closed its doors for good. The Times Square mecca — which was the subject of the greatest/worst restaurant review of all time by Pete Wells of the New York Times — served its last bit of Donkey Sauce on December 31. Fieri confirmed the news, saying that he was “proud” of the restaurant, which opened in 2012, but he did not offer up a reason for the closure.
(Maybe it was the slogan: “Love, Peace and Taco Grease”?)
-TheBlast
★ Gillian Anderson will be honored with the 2,625th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday.   She is best known for her role as ‘Special Agent Dana Scully’ on “The X-Files.” Anderson won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors’ Guild awards for the series.
-WalkofFame

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): David Duchovny, Arie Luyendyk Jr., Dusty Slay
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Falcon” (NBC/CTV): Kate McKinnon, Patton Oswalt, Wiz Khalifa featuring Ty Dolla $ign ( R )
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Anderson Cooper, Maz Jobrani, Margo Price
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): John Lithgow, Jonathan Groff, Michael Lewis ( R )
• “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS/CTV): Debra Messing, Taran Killam, Sam Rockwell, Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line ( R )
• “Conan” (TBS/Comedy): Elijah Wood, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Paul Weller ( R )
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): Christian Siriano, Erika Jayne ( R )
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Guest co-host Ana Navarro
• “The Talk” (CBS): Dylan McDermott, Elizabeth Wagmeister
• “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC/CTV): America Ferrera, Colleen Ballinger, Dr. Taz Bhatia
• “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (NBC/CTV): Ricky Martin
• “Ellen’s Game of Games” (NBC): Ellen DeGeneres hosts this six-episode game show featuring expanded versions of the various party games featured during her daytime talk show.
• “LA to Vegas” (FOX): Premiere.  This single-camera workplace comedy focuses on the crew and regular passengers of a regular weekend roundtrip flight between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Ed Sheeran – is obsessed with Robbie Williams.  Quote: ”I feel a weird affinity with Robbie. We email now and then but I’ve been reading up on him and his career is so similar to mine…one lone man… a very lonely sort of life.”
• Cardi B – her lawyer is promising legal action after a nude video hit the internet over Christmas weekend.  The images were part of a hack and stolen from her fiance, Offset from the rap group Migos.
• AC/DC – Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott doesn’t approve of the way they sent former singer Brian Johnson packing when he encountered hearing problems.  AC/DC dismissed Johnson in favor of Axl Rose to finish out their tour.  When asked about how the lineup change was dealt with, however, Elliott said: “I wouldn’t have done it like that…considering that we had a drummer lose an arm and we waited for him, the way that they dealt with it was not the way I would have done it.”
• Beatles and Bee Gees – Ringo Starr and Barry Gibb are among those who have been selected for British knighthood.  Gibb: “”This is a moment in life to be treasured and never forgotten.”
• David Bowie – his son Duncan Jones has launched an online book club dedicated to Bowie’s  favorite literary works. Jones says that Bowie was a “beast of a reader” and one of his true loves was Peter Ackroyd’s sojourns into the history of Britain & its cities.
• Jackson Browne – will receive the Les Paul Innovation Award on January 27th. The award, whose previous recipients include Neil Young, Pete Townshend and Bruce Springsteen, recognizes “individuals that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of recording technology in the spirit of the famed audio pioneer, inventor and musician, Les Paul.”
• Luke Bryan – won Christmas.  He shared video of him presenting his blindfolded wife Caroline with something for the woman who really does have everything: a pair of matching baby kangaroos.
• Blake Shelton – Just because he has been named the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’, that doesn’t mean he is confident in all aspects of his life.  When asked if he ever walks around his house without clothes, his answer was clear:  “No!…I wouldn’t do that to anybody!”  He went on to joke that he looks like “half melted, vanilla ice cream with little hairs stuck to it.”

THIS WEEK’S VIDEO RELEASES:
• “American Made” (R-Rated, Action/Adventure):  The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair. (Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright)
• “Battle of the Sexes” (PG-13, Comedy/Drama):  The true story of the 1973 tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs. (Emma Stone, Steve Carell)
• “Breathe” (PG-13, Drama/Romance):  The inspiring true love story of Robin and Diana Cavendish, an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease. (Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy)
• “Brad’s Status” (R-Rated, Comedy/Drama):  A father takes his son to tour colleges on the East Coast and meets up with an old friend who makes him feel inferior about his life’s choices. (Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer)
• “A Question of Faith” (PG, Drama):  When tragedy strikes three families, their destiny forces them on a converging path to discover God’s love, grace and mercy as the challenges of their fate could also resurrect their beliefs. (Richard T. Jones, Kim Fields, C. Thomas Howell)

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW(ISH) AGAIN:
Things that ‘experts’ are saying will be back in 2018:
➠ The Waterbed: A modern wave of beds could help it shake its ‘kitschy’ reputation and open things up for a big resurgence.  The inventor of the waterbed, Charlie Hall, says his new bed will debut in February, will be virtually waveless and the same size as a traditional mattress.  You can also set the thermostat at different temperatures for each side.
(And I’ll take a side order of green shag carpeting too, please!)
➠ Pinball machines:  Interest has been growing for the past 10 years or so.  So much that the International Pinball Association boasts 55,000 players.  There are also smartphone apps to help you find a pinball arcade.  It could become a big thing in 2018.
(Won’t happen unless it’s a pinball video-game!)
-CP, AP

UNPACKING TONS OF NOTHINGBURGER:
Michigan’s Lake Superior State University has released its 43rd annual ‘List of Words Banished From the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse & General Uselessness’. This year’s list includes …
✗ ‘Unpack’ – Misused word for analyze.  Concepts or positions are not packed, so they don’t need to be unpacked.
✗ ‘Tons’ – An exaggerated quantity, as in tons of sunshine or tons of work. ‘Lots’ would surely suffice.
✗ ‘Dish’ – As in to ‘dish’ out the latest rumor on someone.  Let’s go back to ‘talk about’ and leave dishes in the cupboard.
✗ ‘Pre-owned’ – What is so disgraceful about owning a used car?
✗ ‘Onboarding / Offboarding’ – We used to have hiring, training and orientation. Now we need to have an ‘onboarding’ process. Firings, quitting, and retirements are streamlined into ‘offboarding’.
✗ ‘Nothingburger’ – Says nothing that ‘nothing’ doesn’t already.
✗ ‘Let that sink in’ – Instead, one could say shocking, profound, or important. Let that sink in.
✗ ‘Let me ask you this’ – Wholly unnecessary statement. Just ask the question already.
✗ ‘Impactful’ – A frivolous word groping for something ‘effective’ or ‘influential.’
✗ ‘Covfefe’ – How was this missed by ‘autocorrect’?
✗ ‘Drill Down’ – Instead of expanding on a statement, we “drill down on it.”
✗ ‘Fake News’ – Once upon a time stories could be disproved. Now ‘fake news’ is any story you disagree with.
✗ ‘Hot Water Heater  – Hot water does not need to be heated. ‘water heater’ works.
(You know that as soon as ‘covfefe’ became a thing, these guys pencilled it in for this year’s list!)
-LSSU

BS CHRONOMETER 01.02.18

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1968 [50] Cuba Gooding Jr, NYC, movie actor (“The Butler”, “Jerry Maguire”) COMING UP… “Louisiana Caviar”, 2018

1971 [47] Taye Diggs, Newark NJ, TV actor (“Murder In the First” 2014-16, “Private Practice” 2007-13)/movie actor (“The Best Man Holiday”)/Broadway actor (“Rent”) COMING UP…“Set It Up”, 2018

1975 [43] Dax Shepard, Milford MI, TV actor (“Parenthood” 2010-15)/movie actor (“Knocked Up”)/wed to actress Kristen Bell since 2013

1978 [40] Karina Smirnoff, Kharkiv, Ukraine, dancer (professional ballroom dancer who won the 13th season of “Dancing with the Stars” alongside JR Martinez)

1983 [35] Kate Bosworth, Los Angeles CA, TV actress (“The Art of More” 2015-16)/movie actress (“Superman Returns”, “Blue Crush”) COMING UP… “The Domestics”, 2018

1993 [25] Bryson Tiller, Louisville KY, R&B/hip hop artist (‘Don’t’, ‘Exchange’)

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Weigh-In Day”, when many plan to kick off their resolution to lose weight on the first day back at work in the New Year.

• “Cream Puff Day”, honoring the baked puff pastry shells stuffed with a sweet and rich filling. They originated in Europe in the 1540s when they were created for France’s Henry II.

• “Happy Mew Year”, because cats insist on holidays all their own.

• “Motivation & Inspiration Day”.  You’re going to need some in order to keep that New Year’s resolution!

• “Personal Trainer Awareness Day”, honoring the folks who make it easier to achieve the most common New Year’s resolution … to lose weight and maintain a permanent healthy lifestyle.

• “National Buffet Day”, Well!  That should put an end to a lot of New Year’s resolutions!
A buffet of buffet facts:
➢The concept arose in mid 17th century France, when gentleman callers would arrive unexpectedly at the homes of ladies they wanted to woo.
➢ It was during the expansion of the railroads throughout Europe that the smorgasbord buffet increased in popularity.
➢In 1939 at the New York World’s Fair exhibition, the Swedes used a smorgasbord to showcase the best of the Swedish food to visitors attending the fair.
➢The all-you-can-eat buffet made its restaurant debut in 1946, when it was introduced by Vegas hotel manager Herb MacDonald.
➢By the mid-1960s, virtually every casino in Las Vegas sported its own variation.
➢Today the casino buffet costs a bit more than the average $1.50 price of the 1960s, but the buffets continue to be one of the best deals in Vegas and elsewhere.

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
[Wed] Drinking Straw Day
[Thurs] Spaghetti Day
[Thurs] Trivia Day
This Week Is… Diet Resolution Week
This Month Is…Get Organized Month

TODAY’S SHOWBIZ EVENT . . .
2017 [01]  Arnold Schwarzenegger sends off Carnie Wilson on the first episode of ‘The New Celebrity Apprentice’, introducing his new firing line, “You’re terminated.  Hasta La Vista, Baby.”

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
2010 [08] Kesha’s first single ‘TiK ToK’ hits #1, where it stays for 9 weeks (longest-running chart-topper of the year)

2016 [02] Adele is #1 internationally with her 3rd studio album “25″, after breaking first-week sales records in multiple countries

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2008 [10] Oil reaches $100 per barrel for the first time (today it’s about $60)

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2009 [09] A rare, unrestored 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante Coupe is found in the garage of English surgeon Harold Carr, who’d died 2 years previous (a month later, it sells at auction in Paris for a whopping $4.4 million … thereby thrilling his heirs)

BULL’S BITS

BS WACK HANGOVER FACTS:
Still feeling it from New Year’s Eve?  These facts won’t help, but they won’t hurt either:
✓ Women are more susceptible:  Women have less water content in the body than men do, which causes them to have more potent hangovers.
✓ It may be an allergic reaction, not a hangover:  Some people confuse a hangover with an allergic reaction to products in the alcohol. (I, for instance, am allergic to tequila shots…all 13 of them!)
✓ Dark liquors can make symptoms worse:  Darker alcohol, such as bourbon, red wine and rum, have higher concentrations of cogeners, which can be metabolized by the body into formaldehyde, a highly toxic substance that can worsen a hangover.
✓ Genetics play a role:  Some people are more susceptible to hangovers than others, and research suggests that about half of that is determined by genes.  (You bet genetics play a role…I always regret trying to outdrink my brother!)
✓ Eating protein can help:  Eating protein while drinking can keep the stomach busy, and delay the opening of the pyloric valve, which allows the contents of the stomach to pass to the small intestine. (Any protein in that 7-layer burrito supreme I had at 4am?)
✓ Carbonated beverages are a bad mixer:  Carbonated beverages can contribute to the severity of a hangover. The gas causes the pyloric valve to open and pass the contents of the stomach to the small intestine more quickly.
✓ Hangovers dehydrate the brain:  The headache that comes along with a hangover is due to dehydration of the brain. (And from hitting your head on the taxi window when you pass out on the way home…)
✓ It doesn’t matter in what order you drink your drinks:  There’s no evidence that drinking in a particular order (“Liquor before beer never fear, beer before liquor never sicker”) alters how sick you get. But a large glass of water before bed never hurts.  (Unless you are a VERY sound sleeper!)
-LiveScience

BS NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS:
• To forget past mistakes and move forward to even greater mistakes.
• To lose weight again.  And when I say “again”, I mean I RESOLVE to lose weight again, not to lose weight again…because I never lost weight in the first place.
• To do less laundry and wear more deodorant.
• To introduce those who update their Facebook page every 30 seconds to a thing called “Twitter”.
• Not to die.  So far, so good.
• To attain a fat bank account and a thin body.  And not get those two mixed up again.
• To quit putting my foot in my mouth.  I bet yours is to lose weight, huh?
• To just wing it and see what happens.
• To drink more wine and wear less pants.
• To be less sarcastic.  Like THAT will ever happen.
-CelebrationJoy, Pinterest

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What was your New Year’s resolution?  Is it still a thing?

BS RANDOM JOKE:
A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question:  There are 320 million tons of these in the world. What?
Answer:  People

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.