BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
34-year-old actress Drew Barrymore says the heavy makeup that required up to 6 hours to apply & an hour-and-half to remove while shooting the HBO TV-movie “Grey Gardens” (airing this Saturday) resulted in an irritating skin condition that’s left her ‘peeling and sore’ (eww, thanks for sharing your oozing problems!) . . . 21-year-old “High School Musical” star Zac Efron says he’s ready to ditch his core fans so he can move on from his ‘teen star’ tag (the secret is to grow up alongside them – then you’ve got a lifelong career!) . . . DJ Samantha Ronson has apparently already moved on from ex-girlfriend Lindsay Lohan, the “Daily Mirror” reporting she’s been spotted getting close to a Lohan lookalike at a party in LA’s Chateau Marmont hotel (on second thought, she apparently hasn’t ‘moved on’ then) . . . Samoa’s Censorship Board is banning Sean Penn’s Oscar-winning movie “Milk”, based on the life of gay activist Harvey Milk, from being marketed on DVD in video stores (nice to see prejudice is alive & well and living in Samoa) . . . After just 11 days of release, “Fast & Furious” has now racked up close to $149 million worldwide (the reason there’ll be at least 1 more sequel, some say 2) . . . And 39-year-old movie actor Matthew McConaughey (“Fool’s Gold”) tells “Men’s Journal” it was his father who taught him how to successfully seduce women, using some sort of convoluted advice about stopping when they say ‘go’ (nice to see he got the old birds ‘n bees talk – but somehow this is really, really creepy!).

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “American Idol” (FOX/CTV) – Movie director Quentin Tarantino guides the remaining contestants in performances of music from the movies. (We’re betting he’s as good a music mentor as he is an actor.)
• “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC/A Channel) – Another celeb is eliminated after performances by Rascal Flatts and the Broadway cast of “West Side Story”.
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/A Channel) – Newlywed Natasha Bedingfield (“Unwritten”) is a guest.
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Rapper Mims (“This Is Why I’m Hot”) guests.
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Brit singer Adele (“Chasing Pavements”) is on.
• “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/A Channel) – Akon (“Right Now”) is onstage.
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS) – The Yeah Yeah Yeahs perform.
• “90210” (CW) – A reunion of Tori Spelling’s ‘Donna’ & Jennie Garth’s ‘Kelly’, who starred in the original 1990s “Beverly Hills 90210“ (FOX). Spelling’s joining the sequel for a multi-episode arc.
• “Oprah Winfrey Show” (syndicated/CTV) – Oprah goes country with Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Kenny Chesney, and Sugarland.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Chris Cornell – He shocked the audience at NYC’s Webster Hall by cutting off axeman Yogi Lonich’s 12-inch hair while he played a 3-minute guitar solo. Eventually, Cornell shaved his guitarist completely bald.
• The Dead Weather – Tonight the newest side project of Jack White (White Stripes, The Raconteurs) plays its first official gig at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom. The band, fronted by Alison Mosshart of The Kills, will release the album “Horehound” sometime in June.
• Easy Star All-Stars – Today they release a reggae re-imagining of the landmark Beatles’ album “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. “Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band” features guest vocals from a variety of reggae, dancehall, and dub singers.
• George Harrison – Today the former Beatle, who died of cancer in 2001, is awarded a posthumous star on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame”. His widow Olivia & son Dhani attend as an announcement of a new music release is made. (What a coincidence!)
• LeAnn Rimes – The actor she allegedly had an affair with, Eddie Cibrian, has reportedly cut off all communication with her in an attempt to save his marriage with model Brandi Glanville. Meantime, LeAnn and her husband Dean Sheremet are said to be ‘taking a break’.
• Madonna – She isn’t letting her recent failed attempt to adopt a baby from Malawi rest; she’s made a plea for reconsideration in an interview with Malawi newspaper “Nation”.
• Metallica – Today they release a digital ‘box set’ that features their entire 163-song catalogue. “The Complete Metallica” is available exclusively from iTunes through April 27th, then via all other digital outlets afterward.

TODAY’S VIDEO RELEASES:
• “The Reader” ( Historical Drama ): Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, a law student re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crimes trial in post-WW2 Germany. Stars Ralph Fiennes & Kate Winslet, whose portrayal won the 2009 Oscar for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’.
• “The Spirit” ( Action Thriller ): Gabriel Macht plays a rookie cop who returns from the dead to fight crime in ‘Central City’. His main opposition is a former lab technician who has reinvented himself as ‘The Octopus’ (Samuel L Jackson). Directed by “Sin City” author Frank Miller. Scarlett Johansson is the eye candy with a name to match: ‘Silken Floss’. Also comes in a ‘2-Disc Special Edition’.
• Also released today: “Exosquad: Season One” (animation); “House of Saddam” (historical TV miniseries); “Knots Landing: The Complete 2nd Season” (vintage TV); and “Wings: The Complete Series” (vintage TV).

AW, WHAT A COOT WIDDLE BATTY:
US bat biologists, despairing over the lack of funds to fight a mysterious illness ravaging bat populations, want to hire a publicist – sort of a PR ‘batman’ – to give bats an image makeover and educate people about their ecological benefits. The researchers say they’ve learned a harsh truth about the public’s desire to save animals – cuteness rules. If they could get people to care half as much about bats as they do about polar bears, desperately needed funding and attention might follow to save the animals. (Why not dress them up as baby seals?)
– “Boston Globe”

WHITE HOUSE POOCH:
Today the Portuguese Water Dog that Barack & Michelle Obama have selected for daughters Sasha & Malia makes its grand entrance at the White House, thereby fulfilling another of Obama’s campaign promises … to get the girls a dog when it was all over. The black dog, a male approximately 6-months-old, was bred at a kennel in Texas and sold to someone who gave it back. So the kennel is now ‘re-homing’ the dog to the White House. It was originally named ‘Charlie’ but the Obamas are likely to rename it. Senator Ted Kennedy’s family has 3 dogs from the same lineage and will officially present the new dog to the Obamas.
– TMZ.com

BABY BOT:
Nearly 2 years after it was introduced to the world, Osaka University’s ‘CB2′ robot (‘Child-Robot with Biomimetic Body’) has been developing social skills by interacting with humans and watching their facial expressions, just like a human baby would. Below the soft silicon skin of one of Japan’s most sophisticated robots, processors record and evaluate information. The 130-cm (4-ft, 4-in), 33-kg (73-lb) humanoid is designed to learn just like a human infant, evaluating its mother’s countless facial expressions and clustering them into basic categories, such as happiness and sadness. (And, like men, never knowing which to expect.)
– AFP

WAYS TO UPCYCLE BEFORE YOU RECYCLE:
It actually takes energy to recycle products, so it’s more environmentally friendly to reuse as many as possible before you recycle them. A few examples …
• Bacon Fat – Pour it into a jar, add unwanted food crumbs and a length of string, refrigerate and presto! …. a bird feeder to hang from the clothesline.
• Breakfast Cereal Bags – The bag inside the cardboard box that actually contains the cereal makes a terrific freezer/food bag when emptied.
• Butter Wrappers – When the butter’s gone, fold them and save them in the fridge for use any time a recipe calls for you to ‘grease the inside of a pan’.
• Coffee Grounds – In moderation, they can do wonders for the garden by adding nitrogen to the soil. They can also keep the kitchen drain smelling fresh if you chase them down it with at least 5 cups of boiling hot water. Your drain should smell fresh for at least a week afterward.
• Old Clothes – Cut the fabric into squares to use for gift wrapping paper, the Japanese way.
• Old Ironing Board Cover – Even when burn holes make it outmoded for its original use, there’s likely still enough of the heat-retardant material to make a spiffy pair of oven mitts.
– EcoSalon.com

STICKIN’ IT TO THE MAN:
A 66-year-old Malaysian man has become a local celebrity due to a strange talent for … sticking heavy objects to his body. Tan Kok Thai discovered the rare ability when he took off his shirt one day and a coin that fell from a pocket stuck to his chest. Since then he’s found that rock, metal, plastic, wood, and rubber items all stick to his body and don’t fall off unless he sweats. Among his other successes: bananas, books, cellphones, flashlights, meat cleavers, plastic bottles, and a 45-lb rock. Although his family thinks he’s nuts, Thai believes he has a ‘rare gift’ but admits he doesn’t know how it came about. (Remember that day you were opening a tube of Super Glue with a hatchet and it splattered all over?)
– TheStar.com

SENDING THE RIGHT MESSAGE:
In just 1 month, a 13-year-old Wyoming high-schooler sent 10,000 text messages and received about the same, even though … her phone plan didn’t include texting. The girl’s parents thought that texting ability had been disabled, so were suitably shocked when they got a monthly phone bill totaling close to $4,800. The teenager had been sending most of the messages at school, an average of over 300 texts within an 8-hour period each day for the entire month. Shortly after the big bill arrived, the girl was grounded through the end of the school year and her father took a hammer to the cellphone. Since she’s lost her phone, the girl’s grades have gone up and, obviously, texting has gone down to zero. (Too harsh or did they get it just right?)
– “Denver Post”

BS AMAZING FACT:
In just the last year, there has been a 900% increase in people using Twitter.com, the website that asks the simple question, “What are you doing?”.
– “Media Genesis”

AND WE QUOTE:
“I don’t have a Twitter, a MySpace or a Facebook or anything like that. I kind of value people not knowing where I am or what I’m doing.”
– Actor Zac Efron, giving us at least one reason to start liking him.

BS CHRONOMETER 04.14.09

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TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1960 [49] Brad Garrett (Gerstenfeld), Woodland Hills CA, TV actor (“’Til Death” 2006-08, 2 Emmy Awards-“Everybody Loves Raymond” 1996-2005)

1973 [36] Adrien Brody, NYC, movie actor (“Cadillac Records”, 2003 Oscar-“The Pianist”)

1977 [32] Sarah Michelle Gellar, NYC, movie actress (“The Grudge 1 & 2”, “Scooby-Doo 1 & 2”)/ex-TV actress (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” 1997-2003)/Mrs Freddie Prinze Jr since 2002

1980 [29] Win Butler (Edwin Farnham Butler III), The Woodlands TX, rock singer (Arcade Fire-“Intervention”, “Keep the Car Running”)

1996 [13] Abigail Breslin, NYC, movie actress (“Nim’s Island”, “Little Miss Sunshine”)

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Be Kind to Lawyers Day”, a day to acknowledge that many … er some … um, make that a few who follow the profession are honest, upright citizens who contribute to society.

• “Black Day”, an observance original to South Korea where those who have not found love dress in dark colors and commiserate over meals of black food, with the dish of choice being Chinese-style noodles topped with a thick sauce of black bean paste. (The antithesis of “White Day” on March 14th when men give gifts to women.)

• “Moment of Laughter Day”, a day to take the time to experience the power of laughter. (Check your net earnings for last year … that’ll do it! Or maybe not.)

• “Pan-American Day”, commemorating the first “International Conference of American States” in 1890 involving the countries of North, South, and Central America.

• “Titanic Disaster Anniversary”. Shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912 the ship collided with an iceberg causing it to sink at 2:20 am on April 15th. (Thereby making Leo DiCaprio a star.)

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1992 [17] Billy Ray Cyrus releases his mega-hit single “Achy Breaky Heart” (eventually leads to a worldwide epidemic called ‘Miley’)

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2003 [06] Human Genome Project is successfully completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy (in case you ever want to ‘DIY’ a baby from parts)

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1924 [85] ‘World Record Snowfall’ in 24 hours of 6-ft, 4-inches falls in Silver Lake, Colorado

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] US Income Tax Pay Day
[Wed] Take a Wild Guess Day
[Thurs] High Five Day
[Thurs] International Stress Awareness Day
[Thurs] Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day
This Week Is … Week Of the Ocean
This Month Is … Emotional Overeating Awareness Month

BULL’S BITS

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ALTERNATIVE MUSIC FORMATS BEING CONSIDERED BY OUR COMPETITION:
• Immature Adult Contemporary
• Gangsta Polka
• Despairaoke
• Barbershop Quartet Core
• All Trance Tuba All the Time
• Self-Deprecating Hip Hop
• Mild Salsa
• Reasonable Speed Metal
• Jazz-Crap Fusion
• Dead Air

NATIONAL ANIMALS:
We give you the country, your give us its official beast …
• Australia … Kangaroo
• Canada … Beaver
• France … Gallic Rooster
• Iran … Persian Cat
• Ireland … Stag (deer)
• Italy … Italian Wolf
• Mexico … Golden Eagle
• New Zealand … Kiwi (bird)
• South Africa … Springbok (gazelle)
• Spain … The Bull (hurrah!)
• USA … Bald Eagle
– Gadling.com

BS PHONE STARTER:
Which famous person, now dead, do you wish you could have seen naked?

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Yee haw! Today we’re going to have more fun than a cat in a room full of whoopee cushions.

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: For most of us, 11:45am on a Tuesday is when THIS hits its peak.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Stress.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
The trouble with words is that you never know whose mouth they’ve been in.