BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ 24-year-old actress Jennifer Lawrence tells BBC Radio 1 she’ll never use social media because the Internet has ‘scorned her so badly’. The “Hunger Games” star was recently the victim of hackers who posted dozens of nude pics of her online. But actually, her main reason for avoiding online activity may be that … she’s technologically inept. Quote: “I’m not very good on phones or technology, I cannot really keep up with emails so the idea of Twitter is so unthinkable to me, I don’t really understand what it is.”
– ContactMusic.com
★ The 8th instalment of the “Star Wars” franchise will also shoot at Pinewood Studios in England it’s been confirmed. The news comes just a week after filming on “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” wrapped at the famed film studio in Buckinghamshire, England. “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens'” is set to open in theaters worldwide in December 2015, while the next episode, the as-yet-unnamed “Star Wars: Episode VIII”, is set to be released in 2017.
– Deadline.com
★ And legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has announced he intends to retire after his 10th film, though he notes nothing is etched in stone. Speaking during a Q&A about his new Western movie “The Hateful Eight” (his 8th feature film), the 51-year-old says directing is a young man’s game and he expects he’ll move on to writing plays and books, and going gracefully into old age. Quote: ”I don’t believe you should stay onstage until people are begging you to get off.”
– BangShowbiz.com

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Nick Jonas (ex-Jonas Bros).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Tears For Fears (“Songs From the Big Chair”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – The Front Bottoms (“The Front Bottoms”).
• “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV) – Ex Hex (“Rips”).
• “Live With Kelly & Michael” (syndicated/CTV) – Aretha Franklin (“Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics”).
• “Meredith Vieira Show” (syndicated) – Barbra Streisand (“Partners”).
• “Queen Latifah” (syndicated) – Trey Songz (“Trigga”).
• “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Logic (“Under Pressure”).
• “The View” (ABC/CTV) – Guest co-host Ashanti (“Braveheart”).
• “The Voice” (NBC/CTV2) – Audience voting determines which 2 performers from each team advance to the next round.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• The Cranberries – Frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan has been released from hospital and freed without charge by police following allegations she assaulted a crew member during an Aer Lingus flight to Ireland from NYC. She was arrested on Monday, questioned by the Irish Gardai, then admitted to a local hospital for unrevealed reasons. The police investigation is ongoing.
• Foo Fighters – Drummer Taylor Hawkins has compared U2’s new album “Songs of Innocence” to … a fart. He’s also slammed the Irish rockers ‘Orwellian’ automatic download of the album to Apple users. Quote: “They actually had to come up with an app to get rid of it, that’s horrible.”
• Justin Timberlake – This week he’s launched a contest on Prizeo.com to raise money for Musicians On Call, an organization that arranges for musicians to give bedside performances to hospital patients and their caregivers. Fans who donate $10 or more qualify to win a trip to “The 20/20 Experience World Tour” concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn NY December 14th.
• Kenny Rogers – Tonight at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls ON, he kicks off his 33rd Christmas tour. The 25-show trek, “Christmas & Hits Through the Years with Special Guest Linda Davis”, includes his greatest hits and holiday season favorites.
• Maroon 5 – Adam Levine’s new wife Behati Prinsloo is unable to wear her wedding band or engagement ring much of the time due to her modeling career. During an interview with Yahoo! Style, she’s showed off her simple solution … a tattoo of 3 tiny dots on her left ring finger.
• Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger was diagnosed with Traumatic Stress Disorder after girlfriend L’Wren Scott committed suicide, according to legal papers filed as part of an insurance dispute. The band is embroiled in a $12-million legal battle with their insurance company over lost earnings incurred by postponed concerts after the tragedy. (The insurance was to cover lost income, but they’re currently performing makeup dates … so what have they actually lost?)

PREDICTIONS FOR THE HOME ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCE OF 2024:
A peek at what you may be able to do in your media room 10 years down the line …
• Paint Your TV Directly On the Wall – Scientists have already begun manipulating light-making polymers to become flexible enough to conceivably be used as a layer of paint.
• Your TV Will Be a Window – Your LCD monitor will become completely translucent when turned off, allowing a view of the outside world.
• Everything Will Be at Your Fingertips – With cloud-based networks, every movie, TV show, or sporting event ever broadcast will be available with just the click of a button.
• Your TV Will Know You – Using advanced algorithms, your entertainment unit will know what you want to watch before you do.
• Big Sound From Little Packages – As technology advances, Home Theater Systems will only need to rely on one small unit to create realistic surround sound.
• Videogames Get Personal – Thanks to advanced computing and greater understanding of how the human mind works, virtual reality will finally become reality.
• A ‘Watch Party’ Whenever You Want – Using a 2nd device while watching TV is already becoming the norm. In future, integrated devices will allow you and a buddy across the country to share a sports event as if you’re sitting on the couch beside him.
– MentalFloss.com

SIZE DISCRIMINATION:
A new study out of Vanderbilt University shows that the dating arena isn’t the only place larger ladies are discriminated against. Researchers have found that plus-size women in the workplace don’t earn the same pay as their thinner peers. And that’s across vocations and with the same levels of education. According to the study, for each pound gained the likelihood of a woman working in a higher-paying career that involves interaction with the public, or other forms of personal communication, drops.  What’s also upsetting about this study is that it’s found the same bias doesn’t seem to apply to men. (Shouldn’t women – or anyone for that matter – be evaluated on their skills and professionalism rather than their size?)
– CafeMom.com

TOP 10 DOG BREEDS:
According to the latest stats, these are the most popular purebred dogs …
1. Labrador Retriever
2. German Shepherd
3. Golden Retriever
4. Beagle
5. Bulldog
6. Yorkshire Terrier
7. Boxer
8, Poodle
9. Rottweiler
10. Dachshund
(Give us a Heinz 57 mutt anytime, thank-you.)
– Mashable.com

TASTE SECRETS REVEALED:
The brain has specialized neurons for each of the 5 taste categories … salty, bitter, sour, sweet,  and umami, according to a new Columbia University study. The research team has shown that the separate taste sensors on the tongue in fact have a matching partner in the brain. When the roughly 8,000 taste buds scattered over the tongue detect a signal, a message is sent to specific cells in the brain that are tuned to discrete individual taste qualities. That scotches the previous idea that brain cells respond to multiple tastes. It’s hoped the findings could be used to help reverse the loss of taste sensation in the elderly. (We’ll have the ‘sweet cell’ injection, please.)
– “Nature”

LIFE BY THE NUMBERS:
A BS breakdown of who we are and what we do …
• 90% of people who start a videogame don’t actually finish it.
• 58% of us will get (or have had) a flu shot this year.
• 20% of men admit they have cried at work.
• 14% of us believe that owning a dog makes us more attractive to the opposite sex.
• 12% of us dream in black & white.
• 10% of us say our greatest fear is ‘getting fat’.

BS CUTTING-EDGE VOCAB:
New terms leaking into our lingo …
• ‘C-Tuck’ – A surgical procedure that combines a Caesarean Section with abdominoplasty (a tummy tuck). Also known as a ‘mommy tuck’. (We’re told most celebrity women who give birth via C-section opt for a C-Tuck these days.)
• ‘Fruitloopery’ – The improper use of scientific or technical language to make a false or impossible claim seem more believable. “New Scientist” has coined the term for advertisers’ use of science either unverifiably or wildly out of context. (We always admired the cough syrup that claimed to contain ‘Quientium’ … a totally made-up word.)
• ‘Time Porn’ – Television shows, movies, and other media that portray characters as having excessive amounts of spare time. (Sitcom characters that seem to spend hours gabbing and laughing in coffee shops, for example.)

BS AMAZING HEALTH FACTS:
• Men shorter than 5′-6″ have the greatest risk of dying from dementia.
– “The Telegraph”
• You’d have to eat at least 25 chocolate bars to experience the benefits of a memory-enhancing ingredient in chocolate. (Well OK … if you insist.)
– AARP.org

BS CHRONOMETER 11.12.14

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1944 [70] Al Michaels, Brooklyn NY, TV sportscaster (“NBC Sunday Night Football” since 2007, “ABC Monday Night Football” 1986-2006)/5 Emmy Awards/Hollywood Walk of Fame (2004)

1945 [69] 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 [35] Cote de Pablo (María José de Pablo Fernández), Santiago, Chile, TV actress (‘Ziva David’ on “NCIS” since 2005)

1980 [34] Ryan Gosling, London ON, movie actor (“The Place Beyond the Pines”, “Drive”)

1982 [32] Anne Hathaway, Brooklyn NY, movie actress (“Interstellar”, “Les Misérables”)

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Fancy Rat & Mouse Day”, a day set aside for people who appreciate pets … that are vermin.
NET: http://www.afrma.org

• “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.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1993 [21] 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 (“Getting in touch with my inner tadpole isn’t for me.”)

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1984 [30] Madonna releases her breakthrough album, “Like a Virgin”

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1983 [31] ‘Cabbage Patch Dolls’ debut and quickly become the holiday season must-have

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2003 [11] Shanghai Transrapid sets a new world speed record of 501 km/h (311 mph) for commercial railway systems, which remains the fastest for unmodified rail vehicles

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Thurs] World Kindness Day
[Fri] “Beyond the Lights”; “Dumb & Dumber To”; “The Homesman”; “Rosewater”; “Saving Christmas”; “The Toy Soldiers” open in movie theaters
[Fri] International Girls Day
[Fri] World Diabetes Day
[Sat] Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day
[Sat] Guinness World Record Day
This Week Is … Geography Awareness Week
This Month Is … Manatee Awareness Month

BULL’S BITS

10 REALLY WEIRD WEBSITES THAT WILL FREAK YOU OUT:
• Check out every single plane flying right now in any part of the world.
NET: http://www.flightradar24.com
• When something goes really wrong, you can go here and hit the ‘Nooooo’ button.
NET: http://nooooooooooooooo.com
• Proof that The Beatles never broke up and are in a parallel universe … or something.
NET: http://thebeatlesneverbrokeup.com
• Here’s the free dating and social networking site for … zombies.
NET: http://zombiepassions.com
• Who do aliens choose to abduct and why haven’t they chosen you? Find out here.
NET: http://alienabductions.com
• This site never fully loads. Why? Check out its title.
NET: http://patience-is-a-virtue.org
• Find out if today is Christmas. The answer is perpetually ‘no’ … unless it’s December 25th.
NET: https://isitchristmas.com
• This parody site is home to ‘Not Mensa’, the exclusive club for the stupid.
NET: http://mockery.org/notmensa
• The ‘Computer Power Test’ site will inform you your computer is ‘On’. How useful.
NET: http://computerpowertest.com
• If you’re not feeling welcome where you are, go here.
NET: http://zombo.com
– Adapted from List25.com

BS RANDOM JOKE:
If you have trouble getting your children’s attention, just sit down and look comfortable.

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
Which was the first generation to have it’s own nickname?
a. ‘The Greatest Generation’
b. ‘Baby Boomers’
c. ‘Gen X’
d. ‘Gen Y’
e. ‘Millennials’
[According to demographic expert Peter Francese, Baby Boomers were the first named generation to exist. Those that came earlier, like The Greatest Generation which fought in WW2, were named retroactively.]
– Sourced from “Mental Floss”

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ If you could trade one of your current strengths or skills for a different one, what would it be and what would you trade?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: Every year about 85,000 people end up in an Emergency Room after tripping over THIS.
Answer: A pet.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
For every person with a spark of genius, there are a hundred with ignition trouble.