BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum has been ordered to pay $675,000 to 4 record labels for illegally downloading & sharing music after admitting he downloaded & distributed 30 songs (what, are ya stupid?) . . . Late actress Farrah Fawcett’s longtime partner Ryan O’Neal has opened up in “Vanity Fair” about their 1998 breakup, admitting he left her for a younger woman because – she was going through menopause (how to be loyal, just when she’s getting hot!) . . . Paris Hilton’s former manager Jason Moore is shopping a book called “Controlling Chaos”, which details the steps he took to make her famous and how he managed to save her from disgrace by manipulating the media and Paris herself (yeah, any online smut search will reveal what a really great job he did!) . . . According to eBay’s StubHub, the leading online ticket re-seller, last-minute duckets to see big acts like Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Jonas Bros, and U2 are going for as little as $1 (yeah right, about 3 of them per show – on the other side of the world) . . . Perhaps the reason movie actor Nicolas Cage recently sold his German castle and has his Hollywood and Louisiana homes up for sale is – the IRS is now claiming he owes over $6.2 million in back taxes (and that’s just for 2007!) . . . And according to a new report in the “New York Times”, reality TV stars are abused for our entertainment, thanks to no union representation and a lack of workplace rules, including minimum time off between shoots and minimum wages, which can combine to make their ‘stardom’ a miserable experience (for some of these people, that seems like justice!).

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “America’s Got Talent” (NBC) – 10 of the top 40 contestants perform for a chance at winning the $1 million.
• “Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews” (PBS) – David Frost interviews Richard Nixon in 1977, the real-life basis of Ron Howard’s Oscar-nominated 2008 movie “Frost/Nixon”.
• “The Hour” (CBC) – Rush (“Snakes & Arrows Live”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – The Script (“The Script”).
• “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/A Channel) – Arctic Monkeys (“Favourite Worst Nightmare”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS) – Kelly Clarkson (“All I Ever Wanted”).
• “The Megan Fox Media Blackout” – Several websites (mostly male oriented) are boycotting news & pictures of the overexposed actress for the day. “The Transformers” star has appeared on the cover of “GQ”, “Esquire”, and “Maxim” in just a matter of months. The idea of the blackout is to give us a 1-day reprieve from the woman we’ve been drowning in all summer.
• “More to Love” (FOX/CityTV) – In the 2nd episode of this plus-sized hook-up show, 26-year-old, 6′-3”, 300 lb-plus Luke Conley takes 1 of the 20 competing women-of-size with him to Las Vegas. Is this show demeaning or empowering?
• “Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” (NBC/A Channel) – All-American Rejects (“Move Along”).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• AC/DC – They’ve smashed New Zealand box office records as their January “Black Ice World Tour” shows in Wellington & Auckland have become the country’s fastest selling concerts ever. 1-in-50 New Zealanders bought a ticket during the first week of sales.
• Billy Joel – The 60-year-old “Piano Man” is reportedly trying to win back 27-year-old estranged wife Katie Lee (his 3rd), just weeks after they separated. The alimony estimates came in?
• Black Eyed Peas – They’ve set a record for the longest successive #1 chart run by a group in the history of the “Billboard” ‘Hot 100′ chart, a total of 17 weeks on top with “I Gotta Feeling” and “Boom Boom Pow” … so far.
• Chris Brown – That viral video of a wedding party dancing down the aisle to his tune “Forever” sparked a jump in digital sales of the song, with 50,000 downloads in a single week. That’s the best sales week for any of his tracks since December 2008, when “Forever” sold 77,000.
• Drake – The “Young Money” rapper is producing a sitcom in his native Toronto titled “Us & Them”, but he won’t be appearing in it even though he had experience as part of the ensemble cast of TV teen drama “Degrassi: The Next Generation” for close to 8 years.
• Foo Fighters – Market Alley in Dave Grohl’s hometown of Warren, Ohio has now been renamed after him. A huge crowd turned out to see the dedication and watch him perform.
• Pink – She says she’s planning to start a family with husband Carey Hart once she wraps up her ongoing world tour. If they make it through more than a month without splitting up again.
• Rolling Stones – Merchandising company Bravado has a new agreement to manufacture & distribute Stones merchandise in physical form, via mobile and online. ‘Depends’ with a lips logo?
• Sugarland – Today their new DVD/CD set “Live On the Inside” (based on last night’s TV special) gets an exclusive Walmart release.
• Taylor Swift – The flower arrangement she recently sent a friend for her 17th birthday was so large, it required 2 delivery men to carry it. Just one more reason to love that girl!

TODAY’S VIDEO RELEASES:
• “Obsessed” ( Thriller ): Beyoncé Knowles plays the hottie wife of a  a successful businessman (Idris Elba, ‘Charles Miner’ on “The Office”) who becomes the target of an office temp-turned-female stalker (Ali Larter, ‘Niki Sanders’ on “Heroes).

• “Race to Witch Mountain” ( Family Adventure ): Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson stars as a cab driver who picks up an unusual fare: a brother & sister with paranormal powers who are being pursued by a nefarious organization. A redo of Disney’s 1975 family film, set 30 years after the first movie. Also comes in a ‘Deluxe DVD Edition + Digital Copy’.

• “The Soloist” ( Bio-Drama ): Robert Downey Jr plays an LA reporter who befriends a brilliant but troubled musician & one-time Julliard student (Jamie Foxx), who lives on Skid Row but dreams of one day performing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Based on a true story.

• Also released today: “Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters” (cartoon); “Flight Of the Conchords: The Complete 2nd Season”(TV); “The Last Starfighter: 25th Anniversary Edition”; “The Love Boat: Season 2, Volume 2” (vintage TV); “The Tigger Movie – 2-Disc 10th Anniversary Edition” (animation); and “You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros Story” (documentary).

BORING THE CRAP OUT OF EACH OTHER:
The old saying is familiarity breeds contempt, but in this age of social networking perhaps familiarity breeds something even worse … boredom. Author/therapist Ian Kerner (known as ‘The Sex-Doctor to Generations X & Y’) contends that constantly posting our ‘current status’ on Facebook and Twitter creates a form of intimacy that often borders on banality. A sense of mystery about one another is being replaced by the mundane. Kerner claims we need to cultivate a sense of newness and novelty in our relationships not bore each other with the trivial details of our lives. (Hear hear!)
– MSNBC.com

BS THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT YOUR BODY:
• It’s Capable of Producing Aspirin: A recent study finds that eating fruits & vegetables helps produce salicylic acid, the key component that gives aspirin its pain-relieving properties.
• Every Person Has a Unique Tongue Print: Just like fingerprints, tongues have unique geometric shapes and physiological texture.
• Your Heel Has the Thickest Skin: The skin on your palms & soles is at least 4 mm (.16 in) thick, the heel portions being thickest. They also have the most sweat glands.
• You’re Taller In the Morning: Thanks to rejuvenated fluid between your discs, which is replenished while you sleep, your body is about half-an-inch taller in the morning than at night.
• Your Stomach Produces a New Lining Every 3 Days: That’s so it avoids digesting itself with its own acids, the same corrosive compounds used to treat metals in the industrial world.
• Body Position Affects Your Memory: Recent research has discovered that episodes from your past are better remembered while in a body position similar to the pose struck during the event.
• Blondes Have More Hair: They average 146,000 follicles while people with black hair tend to have about 110,000 follicles. Redheads have the least dense hair, about 86,000 follicles.
• You Expel Flatulence an Average 14 Times a Day: Even if you think you’re too dignified, the reality is digestion causes the body to release gases which can be painful if trapped.
– Oddee.com

THE CONSEQUENCE OF ERUDITE VERNACULAR:
College students often try to make themselves sound smarter by looking up big, ponderous words they barely understand. A new study shows that others usually see through this ploy. Princeton psychologist Daniel Oppenheimer took a handful of writing samples and used a thesaurus to replace simple words with needlessly flowery ones, then had a panel of judges evaluate the 2 versions. The result? As the grandiosity and complexity of the language increased, the judges’ estimation of the intelligence of the authors decreased. (Use needlessly complicated language; sound like a dumbass.)
– BadLanguage.net

DESERTING THE DESERTS:
A free-thinking group of scientists is looking into the feasability of building a giant wall around the Sahara Desert in order to stop the desertification of Africa. The 6,000-km (3,700-mi) barrier would be created by flooding sand dunes with bacteria which would turn them into sandstone, thereby stopping the shifting dunes and preventing the desert from further encroaching on currently habitable land. A similar plan called ‘The Green Wall of China’ is designed to stop the growth of the Gobi Desert in Asia. (Just sweep those deserts under the rug!)
– “Curious Times”

MOST ELIGIBLE WORLD LEADERS:
Looking to up your lot in life? Maybe you can glom onto one of these rich and/or influential singletons …
5. Matti Taneli Vanhanen (53) … Prime Minister of Finland.
4. Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck (29) … Dragon King of Bhutan.
3. Michelle Bachelet (57) … President of Chile.
2. Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi (22) … Fourth-in-line successor to the Monaco throne.
1. Kim Jong-Il (67) … Chairman (for life) of North Korea.
– Glimpse.org

DID YOU KNOW?
The first known ‘Bathing Beauty Competition’ took place at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in 1880. One of the judges was inventor Thomas Edison. First prize, which went to a young woman named Myrtle Meriwether, was a trousseau – a collection of clothing and linens.
– “New Yorker”

AND WE QUOTE:
• “I think acting is a younger man’s game; there are fewer interesting parts for older people and we all get older. But I feel like I’ve done it. I’ve kind of had my time and that’s quite freeing. “
– Brad Pitt in the German newspaper “Bild”, sounding way older than his 45 years.
• “To me, Botox is no more unusual than toothpaste. It works, you do it once a year … who cares?”
– 49-year-old Simon Cowell in the August UK “Glamour” edition, admitting there’s a reason he never frowns … he can’t.

BS CHRONOMETER 08.04.09

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TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1944 [65] Richard Belzer, Bridgeport CT, TV actor (‘Detective John Munch’ on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” since 1999, guest judge on “Last Comic Standing” 2008)

1955 [54] Billy Bob Thornton, Hot Springs AR, movie actor (“The Astronaut Farmer”, 1997 Oscar-“Sling Blade”)/married 5 times, most notably to actress Angelina Jolie 2000-03

1961 [48] Barack Obama, Honolulu HI, 44th US President (2009-??)/US senator (IL) 2005-2008/Illinois state senator 1997-2004

1968 [41] Daniel Dae Kim, Busan, South Korea, TV actor (‘Jin-Soo Kwon‘ on “Lost” 2004-10)

1971 [38] Jeff Gordon, Vallejo CA, auto racer (4-time NASCAR champ, 3-time “Daytona 500″ winner)

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Chocolate Chip Day”, saluting those tiny little morsels of decadence that make almost any dessert taste better. There’s hardly any calories in them, right? They’re just little. (Unless you inhale the whole bag.)

• “National Night Out”, the 26th annual initiative to fight drug abuse and street crime by encouraging us to take back the streets for the night. The community-police partnership has been held on the first Tuesday of August since 1984, sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch in the US and Canada.
NET: http://www.nationalnightout.org/nno/

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1998 [11] Consumer ‘HDTV’ television sets are introduced, with a MSRP of $5,500

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1990 [19] Mariah Carey’s debut single, “Vision Of Love”, hits #1 on pop charts

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1777 [232] 1st ‘Circus’ is established by former British cavalry officer Philip Astley (notice that trainers now refer to animal ‘tricks’ as ‘behaviors’ … as if elephants regularly dance on 2 legs in the wild?)

2005 [04] Michaelle Jean is selected to be Canada’s 27th Governor General

COMING UP . . .
[Wed] International Beer Day
[Wed] Underwear Day
[Wed] Sturgeon Moon (Full Moon of August)
[Thurs] Hiroshima Day
[Thurs] Fresh Breath Day
[Fri] Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day
[Fri] Professional Speakers Day
This Week Is … World Breastfeeding Week
This Month Is … What Will Be Your Legacy Month

BULL’S BITS

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YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING OLD WHEN:
• Your best friend is dating someone half their age and isn’t breaking any laws.
• You sing along with elevator music.
• Your ears are hairier than your head.
• You’re cautioned to slow down by your doctor instead of the police.
• You can’t remember the last time you laid on the floor to watch TV.
• You have a party and the neighbors don’t even realize it.
• People call at 9 pm and ask, “Did I wake you up?”

BS PHONE STARTER:
What things would you like to know better about your partner?

MORE WEIRD WINES:
They’re real vintages, but really strangely named …
• White Trash White (California, USA)
• Africus Rex (Ontario, Canada)
• Dyed-in-the-Wool (New Zealand)
• Frisky Zebra (South Africa)
• Blasted Church (British Columbia, Canada)
• Scraping the Barrel (Spain)
• Rude Boy (Western Cape, South Africa)
• Screw Kappa Napa (California, USA)
• Old Tart (d’Oc, France)
• Mad Housewife (California, USA)

BS RANDOM JOKE:
My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: People who have at least one of THESE are generally more optimistic and ambitious than those without one.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: A sister.

BS DEEP THOUGHT: