BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Brad Pitt’s upcoming movie “Fury” has sparked outrage in Oxfordshire, England by shooting battle scenes on the day the country honors soldiers who’ve died in combat. The production crew of the WW2 action movie, which stars Pitt as a tank commander, received requests from locals to halt filming to observe the memorial but filming apparently went ahead anyway. A hundred British extras were hired to dress as German and US troops for the shoot; some were former real-life soldiers. “Fury” is due for release next year.
– “Daily Mirror”
★ British TV drama “Downton Abbey” has been renewed for a 5th season, as the 4th season draws to a close on ITV, averaging a healthy 11.8 million viewers in the UK. Julian Fellowes will return to write the series, which is expected to air next year. “Downton Abbey” debuted on British TV screens in 2010 and has since been sold in more than 220 territories worldwide. (“Downton’s” Season 4 begins airing January 5th on PBS in America.)
– BBC.co.uk
★ Lance Bass has enlisted Jessica Biel, wife of his former *NSYNC bandmate Justin Timberlake, to help plan his wedding. The 34-year-old former pop star, who proposed to his boyfriend Michael Turchin in September, decided to pick Biel’s brain when they both attended the wedding of band member Chris Kirkpatrick. Among her ‘really great ideas’: Sending out personalised ‘onesies’ to guests so that at midnight after the reception it turns into a pajama party.
– Bang Showbiz
★ And movie star George Clooney has teamed up with his “Ocean’s Eleven” co-star Matt Damon again, this time for a new UK coffee ad directed by the “Gravity” actor’s production partner Grant Heslov. In the latest Nespresso commercial, Clooney uses Damon as a decoy so he can enjoy a cup of coffee in peace as film fans descend upon him. Inside sources say that Damon earned $3 million (£2 million) for the 20-second ad. But that’s a piddling amount compared to Clooney. He’s had a long-standing contract as the face of the Nespresso brand outside the US ever since 2006.
– “New York Post”

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Arsenio Hall” (syndicated) – Childish Gambino (“Camp”).
• “Chelsea Lately” (E!) – Avril Lavigne (“Avril Lavigne”).
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Lenny Kravitz (“Are You Gonna Go My Way 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – The Killers (“Direct Hits”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – The Flaming Lips (“The Terror”).
• “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Capital Cities (“In a Tidal Wave of Mystery”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS/NTV/Omni1) – Lorde (“Pure Heroine”).
• “Live With Kelly & Michael” (ABC/CTV) – Ricky Martin (“Música + Alma + Sexo”).
• “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC/CTV2) – Cults (“Static”).
• “The Voice” (NBC/CTV) – 10 contestants move to the next phase; Sara Bareilles performs.
• “Wendy Williams” (syndicated) – The Wanted (“Word of Mouth”).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Cash Cash – The chart-topping EDM trio has now released a video of an intimate, acoustic version of their current hit “Take Me Home”, featuring Bebe Rexha. They’re currently on tour until the end of the year, with a New Year’s Eve gig at the Izod Center in East Rutherford NJ.
• Culture Club – Boy George is reuniting his 1980s pop group and hopes to recruit producer Brian Eno to record a new album. He and guitarist Roy Hay met in LA earlier this month and plan to begin working on new material with bassist Mikey Craig & drummer Jon Moss in January.
• Eminem – Thanks to “The Marshall Mathers LP 2”, this week he’s become the first US artist to have 7 consecutive #1 albums on the UK chart.
• Jay Z – He’s made a possible misstep in his burgeoning sports agent career by giving NY Yankee Robinson Cano a $33,000-watch as a birthday gift. Agents aren’t allowed to give clients gifts valued over $500 without permission, according to MLB Players Association rules.
• Justin Bieber – He was forced to cut his Buenos Aires, Argentina show short due to a bout of food poisoning which hit a day after he was kicked out of the Hotel Faena due to the constant noise, mess, and destruction that his fans were causing outside. Fun tour, huh Biebs?
• Kanye West – Following a series of setbacks, his “Yeezus” tour resumes Saturday in Philadelphia PA. Dates in Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto have been rescheduled; those in Columbus, Denver, Montréal, Minneapolis, St Louis, and Vancouver have all been cancelled.
• Lorde – In a new interview the New Zealand teen says, “Pop has been shameful for a long time.” And she may be just the answer; many are hailing her as the antidote to pop’s current preoccupation with superficial lyrics and sexual provocation.
• One Direction – Zayn Malik and 20-year-old fiancée Perrie Edwards of girl group Little Mix are considering getting married on the beach in Barbados in 2015, but she tells “Daily Mirror” she’s torn between that idea and having a big family do at home in the UK.
• Rolling Stones – 66-year-old Ronnie Wood is set to become a grandfather … for the 8th time. His 35-year-old daughter Leah, one of his children with ex-wife Jo Wood, has revealed she is expecting her 2nd child via financier-husband Jack MacDonald.

TODAY’S VIDEO RELEASES:
• “Man of Steel” ( PG-13 Action Adventure ): Another reboot of the franchise that director Bryan Singer couldn’t quite relaunch 7 years ago. Henry Cavill plays the soon-to-be-superhero as he confronts his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race. Co-stars Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane.
• “Turbo” ( PG Family Animation ): This 3-D comedy is about an underdog snail who kicks into overdrive when he miraculously attains the power of super-speed and revs up to attain his impossible dream … winning the Indy 500. Voice cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, Maya Rudolph, Snoop Dogg, Paul Giamatti.
• Also released today: “Blackfish” (Documentary); “Dexter: The Complete Final Season” (TV); “Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Series” (TV); “Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation” (Documentary); “John F Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums” (Documentary); “MADtv: Season 4″ (Vintage TV); and “The Mod Squad: The Complete Collection” (Vintage TV).

THE WEDDING RUSH IS ON:
Tuesday isn’t usually a big day for weddings … unless the date happens to be 11/12/13. Today’s last sequential date of the year is sending thousands of pattern-loving couples to the altar. Dates with sequential numbers, or repeated numbers such as last year’s 12/12/12, are popular with couples seeking an ‘iconic wedding date’. Today is the next-to-last date of the 21st century to feature 3 sequential numbers. The last consecutive series will occur next year – 12/13/14 – and it falls on a Saturday. (Whoa, could be a record-breaker!)
– “New York Daily News”

LOOK MA, NO HANDS!
Toyota has announced a new concept car that drivers control by shifting their bodyweight while standing, doing away with the need for a steering wheel. The ‘FV2′ vehicle will make its official debut at the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show, opening November 22nd. The company says that leaning forward, backward, and to the side to control the vehicle will be ‘intuitive’, but in case drivers need further assistance, voice and facial recognition sensors will offer up useful navigational info. Toyota says the aim is to develop trust and understanding between the driver and the vehicle ‘similar to those a rider will have with a horse’. (Only at 80 mph.)
– BBC News

UP, UP AND WAY AWAY:
Tucson, Arizona company Paragon Space Development is set to offer helium balloon rides that take customers in a pressurized capsule to the dizzying height of 100,000 feet, roughly 3 times the altitude of the average airliner. For the hefty fee of $75,000, a passenger ascends for 11-and-a-half hours, followed by 2 hours admiring the planet from above. In the next stage, the capsule disconnects from the balloon and goes into free-fall as a parafoil allows it to glide gracefully back to Earth. Flights are planned to begin within 3 years. (Go ahead without us, ok?)
– “Washington Post”

TALK DEEP TO SCORE HIGH:
The deeper the voice, the more women are drawn to a man. So says a new study from McMaster University which exposed participating women to recorded male voices that were manipulated to range higher and lower in pitch. The results: Women preferred men with lower-pitched voices over all, but – here’s the catch – they also ranked low-pitched voices as belonging to men more apt to cheat. That makes perfect sense, researchers say, as men with low-pitched voices have higher levels of testosterone, and men with higher levels of testosterone are generally less committed in relationships. (Hence the bad rep of radio DJs.)
– CBC News

WAKE UP & POSTPONE THE COFFEE:
Washington DC neuroscientist Steven Miller claims you shouldn’t drink coffee first thing in the morning. Why? Production of the steroid hormone cortisol is strongly related to your level of alertness and it just so happens that cortisol peaks for most people between 8 and 9 am. One of the key principles of pharmacology is to use a drug only when it is needed, so imbibing caffeine at a time when you are naturally approaching your maximal level of alertness is a waste and can lead to caffeine tolerance so coffee has no impact. So when’s the optimal time fora shot of caffeine? Miller advises 9.30-to-11.30 am … when you’ll need it to stay alert. (No java until 5 hours after getting up … yeah, that’s going to happen.)
– “The Australian”

MOM’S SOCIAL NETWORK
If you’re wondering how social media just keep growing, give the credit to moms with young kids. A new study has found mothers with children under 5 are driving social media these days. The report from Experian says new mothers are twice as likely to post social-media comments compared with the rest of the public, and that in most instances they’re doing it on Facebook. The same group are also more likely to shop online using mobile devices, particularly an iPad. (We know a stay-at-home mom who leaves Facebook up all day, keying in status updates whenever she walks by her laptop. Thanks hon’, but that’s TMI.)
– Mashable.com

GROW YOUR BRAIN:
Want to make your brain bigger? Get thee to the nearest joystick! A new study makes the oft-repeated argument that regularly playing videogames can make your brain more powerful. Conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, the study required a group of volunteers to play the Nintendo videogame “Mario 64″ for at least 30 minutes daily for 2 months. Subsequent testing revealed the participants grew significant amounts of fresh grey matter in the areas of the brain associated with spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory, and motor performance. (As well as geekdom and nerdiness …. but not social acceptance.)
– Buzzfeed.com

BS AMAZING FACT:
Solar cells convert sunlight into electricity more efficiently when loud music is played to them … as long as it’s pop or rock.
– “New Scientist”

BS CHRONOMETER 11.12.13

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1944 [69] Al Michaels, Brooklyn NY, TV sportscaster (“NBC Sunday Night Football” since 2007, “ABC Monday Night Football” 1986-2006)/5 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Play-by-Play Host/Hollywood Walk of Fame (2004)

1945 [68] Neil Young, Toronto ON, classic rocker (“Heart of Gold”, Crosby Stills Nash &Young-“Woodstock”)/Farm Aid co-founder/Canada’s Walk of Fame (2000)/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1995-solo, 1997-Buffalo Springfield)/Canadian Music Hall of Fame (1982)

1979 [34] Cote de Pablo (María José de Pablo Fernández), Santiago, Chile, TV actress (‘Ziva David’ on “NCIS” since 2005)

1980 [33] Ryan Gosling, London ON, movie actor (“The Place Beyond the Pines”, “Drive”)  COMING UP: “How to Catch a Monster” (2014).

1982 [31] Anne Hathaway, Brooklyn NY, movie actress (“Les Misérables”, “Alice in Wonderland”)  UP NEXT: “Song One” (2014).

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Pizza With the Works Except Anchovies Day”. The world’s first true pizzeria, Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, opened in 1830 and is still in business today in Naples, Italy. Italian immigrant Gennaro Lombardi opened the first North American pizzeria in 1895 in NYC. Pizza is now consumed all over the world …with or without anchovies.

• “Young Readers Day”, observed on the 2nd Tuesday of November since 1989 as a day to entice youngsters to read and to encourage us to give books to children we know.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1993 [20] Kermit the Frog publishes “One Frog Can Make a Difference: Kermit’s Guide to Life in the ‘90s”, in which he rejects political correctness (such as the term ‘Amphibian-American’) as well as the self-help craze (quote: “Getting in touch with my inner tadpole isn’t for me”)

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1998 [15] Backstreet Boys’ self-titled debut album is certified 8X Platinum

2003 [10] Toby Keith has his 3rd straight #1 country album with “Shock’n Y’all”

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1933 [80] Hugh Gray snaps the 1st known photos of Scotland’s infamous Loch Ness monster (or whatever) but when his film is developed, 4-out-of-5 pictures are blank

1983 [30] ‘Cabbage Patch Dolls’ debut and quickly become the holiday season must-have

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Ashura begins (Shi’a Islam)
[Wed] World Kindness Day
[Thurs] International Girls Day
[Thurs] Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day
[Fri] “The Best Man Holiday”; “Nebraska” open in movie theaters
[Fri] Sony PlayStation 4 release
This Week Is … Geography Awareness Week
This Month Is … Manatee Awareness Month

BULL’S BITS

YOU CAN TELL YOU’RE GETTING OLDER WHEN …
• You own – and actually wear – a pair of pajamas.
• Your potted plants stay alive.
• Having sex in a twin-sized bed seems absurd.
• You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
• 6 am is when you get up, not when you go to sleep.
• You hear your favorite song on an elevator.
• A $6 bottle of wine is no longer ‘pretty good stuff’.

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Just goes to show you, people have one thing in common … they are all different.

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
• Which is the name of the dot above the letter ‘I’ or ‘j’?
a) Snarf.
b) Tittle. [CORRECT]
c) Obfuscation.

• Which does the ‘W-D’ in the oil product ‘WD-40′ stand for?
a) Waste Diesel.
b) Wonder Dislodge.
c) Water Displacement. [CORRECT. The ‘40′ is for the number of tries it took to perfect it.]

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What’s the most annoying thing someone could do on a first date?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: A recent study shows that THIS is opened 22 times per day in the average home.
Answer: The refrigerator door.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
When you are in it up to your ears, keep your mouth shut.