BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ 33-year-old Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch has been rumored to be joining Nic Pizzolatto’s HBO series “True Detectives” for months and now he has confirmed himself as being part of the new cast. Best known for his long-running role in “Friday Night Lights” (2006-11), he’ll co-star alongside Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn in the upcoming 2nd season, playing a young army veteran. The series’ 1st season was heralded as one of the finest TV dramas of all-time, with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson lauded for career-best performances.
– AdWeek.com
★ Newly-announced 2015 Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris will warm-up for the Academy Awards by hosting a new TV variety show based on the UK’s popular “Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway”. The new hour-long program will feature song & dance numbers, hidden cameras, celebrity guests, and comedy sketches. Harris says the unique structure fits right into his random skill set. Quote: “I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and have some fun.” The premiere date for the new show has not yet been set.
– WENN.com
★ Ellen DeGeneres hated doing stand-up comedy. The talk show host claims she only took to the stage when she was younger because she had ‘no other skills’. But the 56-year-old star is a lot more confident these days and reveals she next wants to be a design icon. She’s preparing to launch her new lifestyle-and-clothing brand, ‘E.D.’, early next year and plans to become a full-time designer when her popular daytime talk show comes to an end. Not that she needs the moolah. The comedian and her wife, Portia de Rossi, are worth an estimated $200 million.
– “Vogue Magazine”

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Fall Out Boy (“Save Rock & Roll”); Suzanne Vega (“Tales From the Realm Of the Queen of Pentacles”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Lady Antebellum (“747”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Coves (“Soft Friday”).
• “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV) – Jessie Ware (“Tough Love”).
• “Tavis Smiley” (PBS) – Jon Secada (“I’m Never Too Far Away”).
• “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Funk legend George Clinton; She & Him (“Volume 3”).
• “The View” (ABC/CTV) – Taylor Swift (“1989”).
• “World Series” (FOX) – KC Royals host SF Giants in Game 7 (if necessary).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – The rockers are appealing to fans to donate money to help drummer Leah Shapiro cover the cost of her recent brain surgery. She is now recovering and her bandmates have launched a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe.com.
• Carrie Underwood – She’s announced her baby is due in the Spring. Though the 31-year-old singer is excited about becoming a mother, she admits she’s nervous about the responsibility.
• Imagine Dragons – Their new single “I Bet My Life” is being featured in a Sprite soft drink ad starring NBA superstar LeBron James.
• Katy Perry – She celebrated her 30th birthday in style last week, thanks to an event planner. The week-long celebration in Morocco and France culminated in a dinner party at Restaurant le Jules Verne on the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. More than 70 flew in for the bash.
• Rolling Stones – A new coffee table book, “The Rolling Stones”, features hundreds of photos from the band’s 50-year history. The limited edition (1,150 copies) signed by band members goes on sale in December for – whoa! – $5,000. An unsigned smaller version is $150.
• Taylor Swift – A new wax figure of the 24-year-old holding a red guitar was put on display at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood yesterday. The pony-tailed statue features her slim pins in a pair of red shorts, complemented by a white T-shirt with ‘I Love LA’ emblazoned on the front.
• Trey Songz – He’s counting down the 30 days until his 30th birthday by performing at least one act of kindness each day. He’ll reach the milestone age on November 28th and has vowed to help those less fortunate by launching the ’30/30 Acts of Kindness’ initiative.

LIFE BY THE NUMBERS:
A BS breakdown of who we are and what we do …
• 72% of us have ordered a fancy bottle of wine, even though we didn’t know how to pronounce it.
• 62% of women and 57% of men prefer do-it-yourself Halloween costumes over packaged products (those aged 45-to-54 are most likely to wear homemade creations).
• 50% of pet owners say their critters enjoy watching TV.
• 41% of women and 33% of men have password-protected their phone.
• 11% of adults admit they likely could not pass a driving test if they took one today.
• 7% of homeowners say the most annoying thing neighbors do is let their trees overgrow their yard.

BEST ALL-TIME COVER SONGS:
The top music makeovers ever remade, according to a new poll by the BBC …
10. Whitney Houston – Covering Dolly Parton’s “‘I Will Always Love You” in 1992.
9. Muse – “Feeling Good” from  the 1964 musical “The Roar Of the Greasepaint – The Smell Of the Crowd”.
8. Sinead O’Connor – For her 1990 cover of the Prince song “Nothing Compares 2 U”.
7. Joe Cocker – 1969’s “With A Little Help From My Friends”, originally by The Beatles.
6. Soft Cell – “Tainted Love” (1981), originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964.
5. Jeff Buckley – His 2008 posthumous hit, a cover of Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah”.
4. Jimi Hendrix – He made Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” a 1968 rock hit.
3. The Stranglers – “Walk On By”, a 1978 punk version of the 1964 Dionne Warwick hit.
2. Johnny Cash – For his version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” that was released in 2003.
1. Pet Shop Boys – Their 1987 version of “Always On My Mind”, which won Willie Nelson a Grammy Award in 1982.
– ContactMusic.com

WHEELS YOU CAN COUNT ON:
“Consumer Reports” uses the results of its reliability surveys to forecast how reliable the following year’s models will be. The publication’s predicted reliability for 2015 models …
MOST RELIABLE CARS & SUVs –
✓ Scion xB
✓ Lexus CT 200h
✓ Lexus ES 300h Hybrid
✓ Mitsubishi Outlander Sport
✓ Toyota Highlander (V6)
✓ Lexus RX
LEAST RELIABLE CARS & SUVs –
✗ Fiat 500L
✗ Ford Fiesta
✗ Mercedes-Benz CLA 250
✗ Jeep Cherokee (4-cylinder)
✗ Nissan Pathfinder
✗ Jeep Grand Cherokee (diesel)
– ConsumerReports.org

BS BUZZWORDS:
New cutting-edge vocab …
• ‘Ebolaphobia’ – A strong and irrational fear of the Ebola virus. According to Jacquielynn Floyd of “Dallas Morning News”: ‘Good sense will inoculate you against Ebolaphobia.’
• ‘Media Meshing’ – Using one form of media to enhance or augment the consumption of another. A quarter of TV viewers are now regularly ‘media meshing’ by simultaneously doing something else, ie: talking on the phone (16%) or texting (17%) about what they’re watching.
• ‘Self-Radicalized’ – A new phenomenon (seen recently in NYC, Ottawa, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu QC) whereby troubled loners on the fringes of society become enamored with terrorist groups such as ISIS, then emulate their violent acts. These often mentally unstable individuals, with no direct affiliation to terrorism, are said to be ‘self-radicalized’. (Is it actually ‘terrorism’ or simply the act of isolated and disturbed people who are drawn to violence?)

MOST-SEARCHED COSTUMES 2014:
E-commerce search specialists SLI Systems has tracked more than 80 million searches across 17 websites selling Halloween costumes to come up with a list of the most-popular get-ups being searched this year. The top 10 …
10. ‘Flapper’
9. “The Book of Life” (includes characters ‘Manolo’, ‘Maria’, ‘Joaquin’)
8. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
7. ‘Vampire’
6. ‘Witch’
5. ‘Clown’
4. ‘Pirate’
3. ‘Ninja’
2. ‘Zombie’
1. “Frozen” (includes ‘Elsa’, ‘Olaf’, and other characters)
– Forbes.com

HAUNTED HOMES FOR SALE:
Looking for a new house that’s a bit more colorful than the typical suburban 2-story? Check out these bone-chilling listings that will terrify even the bravest home buyer …
• The dungeon-home of Vlad the Impaler, the castle that inspired Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, is for sale at $78 million … wooden stakes extra.
• Poveglia, a 17-acre island off the Italian coast from Venice. It’s known as the ‘most haunted place on Earth’. It was formerly a quarantine station for people with infectious diseases.
• A beautiful American mansion with dramatic Lake Michigan views that some say has been haunted since the high-society owner killed himself in 1941 is listed for $12 million.
• Or you can buy an entire Colorado ghost town for $2 million.
NET: http://bit.ly/toptenmedia
– TopTenRealEstateDeals.com

BS AMAZING HALLOWEEN FACTS:
• Arguably one of our favorite Halloween traditions; trick-or-treating evolved from the ancient Celtic tradition of placing treats and food outside in order to placate the spirits who roamed the streets at ‘Samhain’, a sacred festival that marked the end of the Celtic calendar year.
• But there was also ‘Souling’, a medieval Christian precursor to modern-day trick-or-treating in which the poor would go door-to-door on ‘Hallowmas’ (November 1st) offering prayers for the dead in exchange for soul cakes.
– List25.com

BS CHRONOMETER 10.29.14

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1947 [67] Richard Dreyfuss, Brooklyn NY, movie actor (“RED”, “Mr Holland’s Opus”)

1957 [57] Dan Castellaneta, Chicago IL, TV voice-over actor (‘Homer’ on “The Simpsons” since 1989)

1984 [30] Chris Baio, Bronxville NY, indie rock musician (Vampire Weekend-“White Sky”, “Cousins”)

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Hermit Day”, the perfect excuse to curl up with a good book and enjoy a day of peace and quiet.

• “International Cat Day”, a day for cat fanatics to dote over their felines … as if they don’t the rest of the year.
NET: http://www.nationalcatday.com

• “Oatmeal Day”, a food celebration honoring the hot breakfast cereal that ‘sticks to your ribs’, as grandma used to say.

• “World Psoriasis Day”, an annual observance to increase awareness of the life-long skin disorder that causes red, scaly patches. It’s estimated some 125 million people worldwide suffer from the malady.
NET: http://www.worldpsoriasisday.com

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1979 [35] Walt Disney World in Florida welcomes its 100-millionth guest

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2005 [09] Wax figures of The Beatles used on the cover of the “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album are auctioned off for £81,500 after being discovered languishing in a back room of Madame Tussauds wax museum in London

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1969 [45] 1st connection on what will become the ‘Internet’, as bits of data flow between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute in California

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2008 [06] Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines, creating the world’s largest airline

COMING UP . . .
[Thurs] Checklist Day
[Thurs] Create a Great Funeral Day
[Thurs] Mischief Night
[Fri] Halloween
[Fri] “Nightcrawler”; “Saw” (re-release) open in movie theaters
[Fri] Voodoo Music + Arts Experience begins (New Orleans LA)
This Week Is … World Origami Days
This Month Is … World Menopause Month

BULL’S BITS

BS THINGS YOU DON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT AFTER TURNING 35:
• Moshing.
• Being carded.
• Getting sent out for coffee by your colleagues.
• Your next tattoo.
• Youth hostels.
• Spamming social media with selfies.
• Pretending your degree is in any way relevant to the work you do.
• Having ‘ironic’ hair.
• Snapchat.
• Dressing up ‘sexy’ for Halloween.
• The validation of others. You’re OK in your book, and that’s all that matters.
– Adapted from BuzzFeed.com

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What’s the tackiest Halloween costume idea you’ve seen this year?
✗ How about the ‘Sexy Ebola Nurse Containment Suit Costume’? Yep, it’s for real and selling for $59.99. Quote: “The short dress and chic gas mask will be the talk of Milan, London, Paris, and New York as the world’s fashionistas seek global solutions to hazmat couture.” Sick.
NET: http://tinyurl.com/nv9lhc9
✗ Perhaps even sicker … some idiot’s ‘Ray Rice Halloween Costume w/Janay Rice Blow-Up Doll’. Here we have a dude cosplaying the domestic violence case that rocked the NFL (for a while) by dressing as abusive former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.
NET: http://tinyurl.com/m5yaqk6
– Jezebel.com

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
Question: It’s estimated that only 1-in-50 people in the world have THESE.
Answer: Green eyes.
– Ask.com

BS RANDOM JOKE:
What a great job! Where else can you clip your toenails at work?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: The average woman owns 9 of THESE.
Answer: Pairs of shoes she doesn’t wear.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
When you think you have someone eating out of your hand, count your fingers.