Friday, January 5, 2018 – Edition: #6029
Sheet Happens!
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ A royal wedding means big bucks for the U.K. According to a report, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s upcoming nuptials will bring in around $680 million to Great Britain. The report credits the number of tourists expected to enter the country for the ceremony on May 19 as the main reason for the increase in revenue.
(Plus all those souvenir plates they’ll sell…)
-Cosmopolitan
★ Hoda Kotb has formalized her interim role as co-anchor on ‘Today’, taking over for Matt Lauer in all respects except his enormous paycheck. Sources say that Kotb will earn $7 million per year, a full $18 million less than Lauer reportedly took home. A “show insider” suggests that Kotb could land a raise the next time she re-ups her contract, but added that “the figure underlines the huge wage disparity at NBC News.”
(But still nothing to sneeze at. Aaaaaaachoooo!)
-Cosmopolitan
★ Mira Sorvino’s father, Paul, has some strong words for Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein is accused, among other things, with blacklisting Mira after she refused his sexual advances. 78 year-old dad Paul told TMZ that, “If I meet him on the street, he oughta hope that he goes to jail. Because if we come across (one another), I think he’ll be lying on the floor somehow, magically.”
-PageSix
★ Olivia Munn will host the 2018 Critics’ Choice Awards, which are set for January 11 on the CW. Munn will preside over a show that will include a tribute to Gal Gadot, who will receive the #SeeHer Award presented by ‘Wonder Woman’ director Patty Jenkins. “The Shape of Water” leads all films with 14 nominations.
-Yahoo
★ Stephen Dorff has been cast to play an Arkansas State Investigator in the next edition of the HBO anthology drama ‘True Detective’. The upcoming installment is set in the Ozarks with a story described by HBO as about a “Macabre crime… and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.” No premiere date has been announced.
-EW
★ Ellen Page has secretly tied the knot with her partner Emma Portner, and they shared the happy news on Instagram. It comes after Page – who came out in February 2014 – admitted she found it ”toxic” hiding her sexuality and is much happier now. Portner teaches contemporary jazz and has choreographed for Justin Bieber.
-ContactMusic
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): Armie Hammer, Jason Clarke, THEY
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Jerry Seinfeld, Robert Irwin ( R )
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): America Ferrera
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): Ice-T, Michael Showalter, Midland ( R )
• “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS/CTV): Gael Garcia Bernal, Jason Momoa, Sam Smith ( R )
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Dan Harris, guest co-host Niecy Nash
• “The Talk” (CBS): Julie Chen’s birthday celebration
• “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC/CTV): Blake Lively, Milo Ventimiglia, Uzo Aduba
• “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (NBC/CTV): Kumail Nanjiani
• “Child Support: (ABC): Kids say the “most unpredictable” things in this new family friendly game show from Ricky Gervais, who also appears in the show. Fred Savage hosts.
• “U.S. Figure Skating Championships (Women’s)” (NBC): The U.S. Championships women’s competition from San Jose.
SATURDAY-
• “U.S. Figure Skating Championships (Men’s)” (NBC): The U.S. Championships men’s free skate from San Jose.
• “A Royal Winter” (HALLMARK): A woman vacations in Europe with her friend as she ponders a career move, and while abroad, she meets a playboy prince. Before long, she discovers an unexpected path for her life and shows the charming royal how to be better prince.
SUNDAY-
• “75th Annual Golden Globe Awards” (NBC): Seth Meyers hosts the 75th annual Hollywood Foreign Press Association gala, which honors achievement in movies and television.
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): Tyra Banks, Nene Leakes
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Beyoncé – will make good on her promise to play Coachella, after dropping out last year because she was pregnant with twins. She will close out the Saturday shows for the 2-weekend festival, with The Weeknd headlining the Fridays and Eminem on Sundays. Coachella runs the weekends of April 13-15 and 20-22 in Indio CA.
• DJ Khaled – is the newest spokesperson for Weight Watchers. He is the new face of the Freestyle Weight Watchers program, one that has already helped him lose twenty pounds.
• Ed Sheeran – makes a cameo on Sunday night’s episode of “The Simpsons”. He voices the role of ‘Brendan’, a love interest for Lisa Simpson, in a “La La Land” parody.
• Taylor Swift – Traditionally, tickets to Taylor Swift tours have been hard to get. Tickets for her 2014 tour sold out in minutes, but three weeks after tickets went on sale for her 2018 ‘Reputation’ tour, there are still seats available in stadiums around the world. In fact, none of her US or UK dates has sold out.
• Madonna — has announced plans to build four new schools in Malawi this year. She took to Instagram to reveal her plans to bring education to thousands more Malawian children as her charity Raising Malawi will be teaming up with buildOn to build four more schools in the area, bringing their total to 14.
• Celine Dion – On CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live With Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper, she insisted that Lady Gaga doesn’t need any advice from her as she gets set to begin her Vegas residency. Quote: “First of all, this girl knows exactly what she’s doing…And I will never, ever, ever, in my whole life tell somebody professional, super talented like she is how to do things…I’m going to go see her show. When is she starting?”
• Stray Cats – have announced their first performance in 10 years. They will headline the ‘Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend’ in Vegas on April 21.
• Tom Petty – is one of the artists whose music is the subject of a lawsuit against Spotify to the tune of $1.6 billion for allegedly using songs without a license from the publishers. Petty’s hit ‘Free Fallin’ was named in the suit, as well as songs by Neil Young, The Beach Boys and others.
• Bob Geldof – doesn’t think there’s a need for global charity concerts anymore because of social media. When asked if he’d stage another international charity gig like Live Aid, he said: ”I don’t think that works now, there’s a whole new age…you can start generating stuff online now, whether that’s as effective immediately or not.”
• Carrie Underwood – after revealing that she received more than 40 facial stitches after a fall outside her home in November, and warning fans that she’s “not quite looking the same”, Adrienne Gang — who was on the first season of “Below Deck”, has Tweeted a selfie with Underwood taken Dec. 12 after the two worked out next to each other, and later pointed out that Underwood “looked amazing” and that she “had no clue” that Carrie had suffered a facial injury.
• Blake Shelton – caused a ruckus with a Tweet that hinted he might retire. That post — saying he’d be joining Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians in retirement real soon — led to intense reactions from his online followers. Fans were split between begging Shelton not to retire and encouraging him to take all the time he would like to enjoy his life with Gwen Stefani and the kids.
OPENING TODAY IN MOVIE THEATERS:
• “Insidious: The Last Key” (PG-13, Horror): Parapsychologist Dr. Elise Rainier faces her most fearsome and personal haunting yet – in her own family home. (Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson)
• “Molly’s Game” (R-Rated, Drama): The true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target. (Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner)
• “The Strange Ones” (R-Rated, Drama/Mystery): Mysterious events surround two travelers as they make their way across a remote American landscape. On the surface all seems normal, but what appears to be a simple vacation soon gives way to a dark and complex web of secrets. (Alex Pettyfer, James Freedson-Jackson)
• “Blame” (Not Rated, Drama): A drama teacher’s taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to ‘The Crucible’. (Trieste Kelly Dunn, Chris Messina, Nadia Alexander)
SMARTPHONE, SMART PRICE:
Last year, Google announced they would be selling ultra-inexpensive smartphones in many countries, and I know I was shocked to learn that they thought it was possible to make and sell a smartphone for as little as $30. We’ll hello, 2018! This month, those phones, a new, optimized GB Android Go mobile device, will go on sale in India, with other countries to follow later in the year. What do you get at that price? The ability to handle email, YouTube, and Maps, as well as some other features that you would expect on your smartphone. Initially they will only be available in India, before being offered in other countries later.
(But I’m sure it’ll never be available at that price HERE!)
(30 bucks sounds great…but it’s the $800 connection fee where they getcha!)
(Because you just can’t live without YouTube, can you?)
-UberGizmo, Droid-Life
WEIRDEST GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS BROKEN IN 2017:
➢ Largest object unboxed: A Volvo transport truck was unboxed by three-year-old Joel Jovine from Charlotte, NC. He was chosen by Volvo to open a specially constructed 23.46 m (77 ft) cardboard box (which had to be made of standard box materials – cardboard and cellophane, be opened without tools and not fall apart when the truck drove out in order to be eligible).
➢ Farthest barrel roll in a car: In London, U.K., Stunt driver Terry Grant achieved a distance of 15.3 m (50ft 2.4 ins) after driving the car up a ramp and traveling through the air turning a minimum of 270 degrees and landing safely on the other side. During the attempt he endured a powerful G-Force of 5.5. (Um….ideally, wouldn’t you want to turn a full 360 degrees?)
➢ Largest water screen projection: An enormous 893 m² (9,612.17 ft²) light projection was displayed on a curtain of 30 water fountains and mist in Dubai, UAE. The 360-degree display, called ‘Stardancer’, also included music, fireworks, dancing and thousands of spectators.
➢ Most robots dancing simultaneously: This massive robot dance took place in Guangzhou, China. In total, 1,069 robots performed the carefully choreographed routine to perfection – a few others fell down and therefore couldn’t be counted. (Please tell me that they weren’t doing the ‘Chicken Dance’!)
➢ Tallest sandcastle: A German travel agency used 3,500 tonnes of sand, collected in 168 trucks, to create a 16.68 m (54 ft 9 in) sculpture over the course of a month. The castle contained intricate images of tourist attractions from around the world including Athens’ Acropolis and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. (Before most of the sand disappeared in the shorts of spectators as they departed the beach…)
➢ Tallest tower of cupcakes: It was created using 6,370 individual cupcakes. The completed tower in South Africa stood 10.77 m (35 ft 4 ins) tall. Once the 1.2 tonne structure was taken down, the cupcakes were distributed among volunteers and guests, as well as children’s homes and hospitals. Money raised went toward cancer treatment. (I don’t want to take anything away from them, but Guinness has obviously never been at a staff lunch around here…)
-Guinness
TICKETS….WHO NEEDS AIRPLANE TICKETS????
If you’re planning a trip in the coming months, it’s probably a good idea to get shopping right now. A new study says that the first two weeks of January is the best time to book your flights. Skyscanner, a travel fare search engine, went through searches from its 60 million users and determined that the first two weeks in January will offer the cheapest prices on flights if you are traveling in the first half of this year. They say that by March, domestic flight prices could rise by 13% and international flights could be 56% more expensive than the year-round average.
(You had me at January!)
(Well, seeing as I never found “Two Tickets to Paradise” in my Christmas stocking, I might just take them up on it…)
(And if I buy a bunch, what do you suppose the resale value would be in…say March?)
-Lifehacker
BS CHRONOMETER 01.05.18
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1931 [87] Robert Duvall, San Diego CA, movie actor (“Apocalypse Now”, “The Godfather”) COMING UP…”Widows”, 2018
1942 [76] Charlie Rose, Henderson NC, TV personality (“CBS This Morning” since 2012)/TV journalist (“Charlie Rose” since 1991, “60 Minutes” since 1999)
1946 [72] Diane Keaton (Hall), LA CA, movie actress (“The Family Stone”, “Annie Hall”) COMING UP…”Book Club”, 2018
1968 [50] Carrie Ann Inaba, Honolulu HI, dancer/TV personality (“Dancing With the Stars” judge since 2005)
1969 [49] Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner), Canton OH, shock-rock musician (‘Sweet Dreams’, ‘The Dope Show’)
1970 [48] Rick Campanelli (Richardo Tomasso), Hamilton ON, TV personality (“ET Canada” 2005-17)/“Rick the Temp” on MuchMusic 1996-2005)
1975 [43] Bradley Cooper, Philadelphia PA, movie actor (“The Hangover” movies, “Silver Linings Playbook”) COMING UP…”A Star Is Born”, 2018
1978 [40] January Jones, Sioux Falls SD, TV actress (“Mad Men” 2007-15, “The Last Man on Earth, since 2015)/movie actress (“We Are Marshall”, “Love Actually”)
SATURDAY-
1955 [63] Rowan Atkinson, Consett UK, movie actor (“Bean”, “Four Weddings & A Funeral”)/former TV comic (“Mr Bean”, “Blackadder”)/Order Of the British Empire (2013)
1960 [58] Nigella Lawson, London UK, celebrity chef (“Simply Nigella” since 2015, “The Taste” 2013-14, “Nigella Bites” 1999-2001)
1969 [49] Norman Reedus, Hollywood FL, TV actor (‘Daryl Dixon’ on “The Walking Dead” since 2010)
1970 [48] Julie Chen, Queens NY, TV host (“The Talk” since 2010, “Big Brother” since 2000)/wed to CBS-TV president-CEO Leslie Moonves since 2004
1982 [36] Eddie Redmayne, London UK, movie actor (“Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them”, “The Theory of Everything”)
SUNDAY –
Movie actor Nicolas Cage (“National Treasure”) is 54; Movie actor Jeremy Renner (“The Bourne Legacy”) is 47; Country singer John Rich (Big & Rich) is 44; TV actress Lauren Cohan (“The Walking Dead”) is 36; TV actor Brett Dalton (“Marvel’s Agents of Shield”) is 35 TV actor Marcus Scribner (“black-ish”) is 18.
TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Bird Day”, an annual observance with half a million adherents who celebrate through birdwatching, studying birds, and bird adoption. Part of the idea is to educate wannabe bird owners about the special issues involved with taking care of our fine feathered friends.
• “Whipped Cream Day” (aka Crème Chantilly), celebrating the sweet fluff used to top off desserts. What’s the weirdest thing you put it on?
• “Twelfth Night”, the “Eve of Epiphany”. Tomorrow is the “Twelfth Day Of Christmas” when, according to the carol, your true love should give to you ’12 drummers drumming’. Different traditions mark the date of “Twelfth Night” on either the 5th or 6th of January.
• “Screenwriters Day”, most people think that the director created the vision for the movies they watch. They’re often surprised when they discover that almost every movie or TV show you see was originally created, written, and rewritten long before the director ever heard of the project…by a screenwriter!
SATURDAY-
• “Cuddle Up Day”, an opportunity to snuggle up to someone or something on a cold Winter’s day.
• “Smith Day”, celebrating the most-common surname in the English-speaking world.
• “Take Down the Christmas Tree Day”, as the official holiday season ends today with Epiphany.
SUNDAY-
• “Bobblehead Day”, an annual celebration of the dumb dolls with wobbly noggins that are often handed out as giveaways at sports events. (Then collect dust on a shelves for decades.)
• “I’m Not Going to Take It Anymore Day”, a day to stand up for your rights.
• “Tempura Day”, celebrating the Japanese cooking tradition of dipping seafood or vegetables in a thin batter of flour and water, then frying them in oil.
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1995 [23] After 82 episodes of the mega-hit NBC-TV sitcom “Seinfeld”, Kramer’s given name is revealed … ‘Cosmo’
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1998 [20] Sonny Bono (of Sonny & Cher) dies in a skiing accident in Nevada, near South Lake Tahoe, California, at age 62.
2004 [14] Britney Spears’ marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander is annulled … after 55 hours
2015 [03] Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden weds actress Cameron Diaz
TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2005 [12] Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, is discovered by a team at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California (although slightly smaller in diameter than Pluto, it is considered larger by scientists due to its larger mass)
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1987 [31] Tony Ferko sets a new world record by fitting 7 ping-pong balls into his mouth
BULL’S BITS
BS WACK FACTS:
✓ Earth is actually closest to the sun in December, even though winter solstice is the shortest day of the year.
✓ The Southern Hemisphere typically has milder winters than the Northern Hemisphere because it has less land and a more maritime climate.
✓ Every winter, at least one septillion (that’s 1 followed by 24 zeros) snow crystals fall from the sky.
✓ The average snowflake falls at about 3 mph.
✓ One inch of snow will produce just less than 1/10 of an inch of water when melted.
✓ A single snowstorm can drop 39 million tons of snow.
-FactRetriever
BS WORST PICKUP LINES:
• Say, didn’t we go to different schools together?
• That dress would look great on my bedroom floor.
• Hi. Can I buy you a car?
• What do you like for breakfast?
• I’m new in town. Can you give me directions to your apartment?
• Let’s go to my place and do the things I’ll tell everyone we did anyway!
• Pez?
• Can I buy you a drink or do you just want the money?
• I’m not the type of person to have sex without mutual consent. By the way, you have my consent.
• NOW will you dance with me, or should I go screw myself again?
-Jokes2Go
BS RANDOM JOKE:
A politician is someone who will stand for what he thinks people will fall for.
BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What’s the first thing you notice about a guy/girl?
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: People who can do this have an IQ that is 5 points higher on average – what is it?
Answer: Play a musical instrument
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
There are two kinds of people who don’t say much: Those who are quiet and those who talk a lot.
