Tuesday, May 10, 2016 Edition: #5727

Bullseye!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Yesterday tickets went on sale for the ‘Desert Trip’ concert in October in Indo CA. It is being hailed as the greatest concert ever staged, a superstar-studded bill of ultimate rock legends, including Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Who, Neil Young, and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. They are all in their 70s and many of their former band members are dead. If we try and imagine a comparable festival line up in 1969 (the year of Woodstock), it would be headlined by Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and maybe feature an appearance by the Glenn Miller Band, without their then deceased leader.
– Telegraph.co.uk
★ Where does a franchise that’s been to Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, London, and Abu Dhabi go next? If you’re “Fast & Furious” you go where no one else has gone … Cuba. Last week production kicked off in Cuba for “Fast 8”, the latest installment in the record-setting franchise, making it one of the first films to shoot in the country since the US and Cuba began to repair diplomatic relations. Undeniably a worldwide phenomenon (the previous 7 movies have banked nearly $4 billion), the franchise seems to have made quite the impression in the island nation as fans are lining the streets to catch a glimpse of the action. “Fast 8” is scheduled for release April 14, 2017.
– EW.com
★ Actors Tim Matheson & Cynthia Nixon are set to portray US president Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy in a new TV adaptation of the book “Killing Reagan”. The film is the latest in the National Geographic Channel’s “Killing” series, based on the books by political pundit-turned-author Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. The stories all explore the assassinations and/or deaths of historic figures. “Killing Reagan” is slightly different from the previous “Killing Lincoln” and “Killing Kennedy” movie instalments as the 1981 attempt on Reagan’s life was unsuccessful. It is scheduled for a TV premiere in October.
– Deadline.com
★ A Kiefer Sutherland drama is coming to ABC-TV. He’s playing the US president in a conspiracy thriller that debuts this Fall. “Designated Survivor” stars the actor who played ‘Jack Bauer’ in “24” as a cabinet member who unexpectedly becomes president. A pilot has been ordered up in hope of developing a series for the 2016-17 TV season. Sutherland is also one of the executive producers on the series. That’s becoming a comfortable role as he’s also exec producing “24: Legacy”, the next chapter in the “24” saga airing on FOX-TV in the Fall.
– “Entertainment Weekly”
★ And actor John Malkovich is starring in a movie that no one will see for a century. According to the Cannes Film Festival, Robert Rodriguez has directed Malkovich in the film “100 Years: The Movie You Will Never See”, which is slated to be kept in a safe at Cannes and screened there on November 18, 2115. The movie was made with support from Louis XIII Cognac, which is promoted in the dark and moody film teaser and happens to take 100 years to age (why it costs $2,775 a bottle). One possible problem … people a hundred years from now may have no idea how to screen a film. The 69th Festival de Cannes runs tomorrow through May 22nd.
– “The Independent”

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Fifth Harmony (“7/27”).
• “The Grinder” (FOX/CityTV) – Season 1 finalé.
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Dead & Company (former Grateful Dead members plus John Mayer).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Plague Vendor (“Bloodsweat”).
• “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global) – Charlamagne tha God (“South Crack: The Album”).
• “Nightly Show” (Comedy Central) – Lecrae (“Church Clothes 3”).
• “The Real” (syndicated) – Fat Joe & Remy Ma f/French Montana (“All the Way Up”).
• “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Tegan & Sara (“Love You to Death”, out June 3rd).
• “The View” (ABC/CTV) – Toni Braxton (“Love, Marriage & Divorce”).
• “The Voice” (NBC/CTV2) – Viewer voting determines which contestants remain; followed by an ‘Instant Save’ competition.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Drake – He’s atop today’s new ‘Billboard 200’ album chart with “Views” and has set several records along the way. It’s his 6th consecutive #1 release; it’s the highest-selling album of the year to date; and tracks from “Views” have been streamed a stunning 245.1 million times, more than doubling Justin Bieber’s previous streaming milestone for “Purpose” in 2015.
• Prince – A fan paid $10,000 for the contract outlining his exclusive deal with talent agents at Creative Artists Agency back in 2005, and now she’s put it up for sale on eBay. The paper’s signed with his full name, Prince Rogers Nelson. You can ‘Buy It Now’ for $30,000.
• Led Zeppelin – A copyright case against them is scheduled to go to trial today. They’re accused of stealing the opening chords for their 1971 classic “Stairway to Heaven” from the instrumental “Taurus” by Spirit. A judge has ruled there are enough similarities to let a jury decide.

THIS WEEK’S VIDEO RELEASES:
Coming out on DVD, Netflix, Google Play and/or other video providers …
• “The Boy” ( PG-13 Horror Thriller ): A young American who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village arrives to discover that the family’s 8-year-old is a life-sized doll that the parents care for just like a real boy as a way to cope with the death of their actual son. Stars Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, James Russell, Jim Norton, Diana Hardcastle.
• “Deadpool” ( R-Rated Action Adventure ): ‘Wade Wilson’ (Ryan Reynolds) is a mercenary with a Special Forces background. After being diagnosed with cancer, he agrees to be part of an experimental project designed to turn him into a super soldier with accelerated healing and drug, toxin, and disease resistance. Co-stars Karan Soni, Ed Skrein, Morena Baccarin.
• “Where to Invade Next” ( R-Rated Documentary ): An expansive, hilarious, and subversive comedy/documentary in which Academy Award-winning director Michael Moore visits various nations in Europe and Africa as a one-man ‘invader’ to take their ideas and practices for America. Along the way he discovers there is much that American should emulate.
• Also being released: “Alpha & Omega: Dino Digs” (Animation); “Beauty & The Beast: 3rd Season” (TV); “Bob Hope: Entertaining the Troops!” (Compilation); “Bubble Guppies: Fun On the Farm” (Animation); “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Daniel Goes To the Doctor” (PBS Kids); “I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman” (Documentary); “I Know a Woman Like That” (Documentary); “The Jim Gaffigan Show: Season 1” (TV); “Manson’s Lost Girls” (TV Bio-Drama); “Newhart: Season 5” (Vintage TV); and “Scream: The TV Series, Season 1” (TV).

KILLER FASHION:
Russia’s largest producer of small arms is branching out into fashion as a result of Western sanctions, it’s reported. The Kalashnikov Concern – maker of the widespread AK-47 assault rifle – is launching ‘military style’ casual clothing and accessories as part of a diversification drive after it lost access to major arms and munitions markets. Kalashnikov’s marketing director says that before the US and European Union imposed sanctions against Russia in 2014, 70% of its hunting and sporting weapons were sold in those countries. Now, he says, they’re focusing more on what domestic consumers want. The company is planning to open 60 stores across Russia by the end of the year. (It’s so far unknown what caliber the clothes will be and whether they’ll be fitted with an under-sleeve grenade-launcher.)
– #NewsfromElsewhere

WORLDWIDE SLEEP:
The world’s sleeping patterns have been revealed by University of Michigan scientists analyzing data collected from the Entrain app. It shows that people in Japan and Singapore get an average of 7 hours, 24 minutes sleep daily while the Dutch average 8 hours, 12 minutes. And it is a country’s average bedtime that has the biggest impact on the time spent between the sheets. The later a country stays up into the night, the less sleep it gets. But what time a country wakes up seems to have little effect on sleep duration. The study also finds that women routinely get more sleep than men (about 30 minutes per night), with middle-aged men 30-to-60 getting the least of all. Overall, people who spend the most time in natural sunlight tend to go to bed earlier. (Except for Miami Beach.)
– BBC Health

STAY HOME, BE HAPPY:
A new survey suggests that remote workers, those who work from home, feel happier and more productive than their colleagues who trek to the office. On average, they rate their happiness levels at work at 8.1 out of 10 while the pool of all workers scores a 7.4. Remote workers also say they feel more valued in their jobs, despite missing out on face-to-face interactions with employers. But the most impressive benefit remote employees report is increased productivity. According to the survey, 91% of workers say they’re able to get more work done remotely than they would working in an office. Previous research backs this up: “Harvard Business Review” has found that remote workers take fewer breaks and sick days and are more productive by the minute. (It helps when you don’t have to spend an hour-and-a-half getting ready for work.)
– Forbes.com

BEEF STEW FROM 1983, ANYONE?
There’s a small community of collectors (and tasters) of ‘Meals Ready to Eat’ (MREs), many of the military rations decades old. They generally contain an entrée, side, dessert, and snacks, along with utensils, drink mixes, and a heating device. Vintage rations often included cigarettes, while some old Italian MREs came with a mini bottle of booze. There wasn’t much of an MRE collector scene until 2003, when North Carolina resident Kinton Connelly launched a website for fellow enthusiasts. He got into MREs in 1999 during preparation for the Y2K disaster that never materialized. These days, like-minded MRE enthusiasts trade military rations, or buy them on eBay. US military rations aren’t technically supposed to be sold to civilians, but it’s rare for MRE traders to get in trouble. (Mmm, 70-year-old SPAM. Yummers!)
NET: http://www.mreinfo.com
– AtlasObscura.com

DID YOU KNOW?
Removing large pieces of broken glass is simple enough, but when it comes to the tiny little shards, that can be a different story. Avoid glass splinters by using a piece of bread to grab the tiny glass shards. Simply press the slice of bread against the shards … and done!
– List25.com

BS CHRONOMETER 05.10.16

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1955 [61] Chris Berman, Greenwich CT, ESPN/ABC-TV sportscaster (“SportsCenter”, “Monday Night Countdown”, “Sunday NFL Countdown”, “Baseball Tonight”)

1960 [56] Bono (Paul Hewson), Dublin, Ireland, rock singer (U2-“Vertigo”, “Beautiful Day”)/only person nominated for an Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe, and Nobel Prize

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Clean Up Your Room Day”. What, once a year? Were you born in a barn?

• “Mother Ocean Day”, a relatively new observance to celebrate the beauty and wonder of the ocean and all its creatures.
NET: https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/mother-ocean-day

• “One Day Without Shoes”, the annual day when we’re encouraged to take off our shoes to raise global awareness of children’s health & education. The idea is to start a conversation for change by going without shoes and sharing what you’re doing.
NET: http://www.toms.ca/onedaywithoutshoes/

• “Trust Your Intuition Day”, a day to listen to your ‘gut feelings’ and act upon them. Is it true … are women better at this than men?

• “World Lupus Day”, to create awareness of the potentially fatal auto-immune disease capable of damaging virtually any part of the body. 9-out-of-10 people with lupus are women (such as Selena Gomez).
NET: http://www.worldlupusday.org

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2011 [05] Microsoft announces plans to purchase Internet phone service Skype for $8.5 billion

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2010 [06] NYC’s Apollo Theater begins installing bronze plaques on the sidewalk outside the building of legends with close ties to the venue (among the first: Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson)

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2015 [01] Cuban president Raul Castro meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican as a gesture of gratitude for the pontiff’s role in facilitating renewed diplomatic ties between Cuba and the USA

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2013 [03] NYC’s One World Trade Center becomes the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Eat What You Want Day
[Thurs] Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day
[Thurs] International Nurses Day
[Fri] “The Darkness”; “Money Monster” open in movie theaters
[Fri] Friday the 13th
This Week Is … Etiquette Week
This Month Is … Arthritis Awareness Month

BULL’S BITS

BS HORRIBLESCOPES:
Use ’em all at once or one-at-a-time as the zodiac reading of the day …
• Aries – Just when it seems that all hope is gone, you’ll discover a deep untapped reservoir of hope deep within you which will soon be gone too.
• Taurus – You will suffer dire consequences after toying with powerful forces you do not understand, namely gravity.
• Gemini – No matter what path you ultimately take, or what choices you ultimately make, this week will still end with you being shot out of a cannon.
• Cancer – You are in grave danger of losing whatever credibility you had as a psychiatrist, which is strange because you’ve been in floorcoverings for 17 years.
• Leo – People and places from your past will come rushing back this week, thanks to a sudden hemorrhage of the temporal lobe.
• Virgo – You will abandon your search for the wisdom of the East when it turns out to be devoid of cool kung-fu moves.
• Libra – Having a girl pop out of the birthday cake was a fine idea but you really should have given more thought to when the cake is cut.
• Scorpio – Either the whole thing is just one big coincidence or they named a deadly species of bloodsucking parasite after you for a reason.
• Sagittarius – It’s not true that everything you like is illegal, immoral, or fattening, but that’s because you’re a boring Puritan with no imagination or glands.
• Capricorn – Getting laid off is a tough pill to swallow, though that’s primarily because it’s a suppository.
• Aquarius – Although you’ve certainly slept your way somewhere, no one would ever mistake it for the top.
• Pisces – Through the impressive process of extending Orion’s celestial finger, the stars indicate that you should f— off.
– Adapted from TheOnion.com

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Horticulture is one screwed-up way of saying ‘gardening’.

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
Which is the most popular registered pleasure boat name?
a. ‘Obsession’ [CORRECT]
b. ‘Reel Pleasure’
c. ‘Wet Dream’
d. ‘Titanic’
– Boatus.com

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ When you fill out a form asking for your weight, do you lie? How about your age?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: 25 years ago THIS was not a popular clothing item for women to wear, but now it is.
Answer: Hoodie.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Everyone you meet knows how to do something that you don’t.