December 20, 2005

Tuesday, December 20, 2005        Edition: #3184
100% Grade A Bull!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
TODAY eBay bidding ends on, quote – ‘Very private photos of Britney Spears & Kevin Federline on their 2004 honeymoon in Fiji’ – an unexpected invasion of privacy that’s said to have left Britney livid (starting bid was $3,000) . . . Yoko Ono has sold the rights to John Lennon’s image for an undisclosed fee, allowing a toy manufacturer to market an 18-inch action figure which will utter ‘authentic John Lennon phrases’ (such as, “My wife sold me out!”) . . . “Time” magazine has named Justice John Gomery as Canada’s ‘Newsmaker of the Year’ . . . Romeo has had to drop out of “Dancing with the Stars 2″ because of a basketball injury but his father, hip-hop mogul Master P, is stepping in to fill his shoes (debuts JANUARY 5th) . . . “The Amazing Race”-winning Linz family is a generous lot, giving half the $600,000 grand prize (their after-tax take) to their parents, then splitting the rest among the family’s 7 siblings (meaning the 4 who competed will net only about $43,000 apiece) . . . Friends say “Spider-Man” star Tobey Maguire is planning to wed his 2-year girlfriend Jennifer Meyer in the coming year (perhaps for job security – she’s the daughter of Universal Studios president Ron Meyer) . . . Brit movie actor Orlando Bloom has apparently already popped the question to actress-girlfriend Kate Bosworth as they’ve been spotted checking out engagement rings in London and she reportedly selected a stunning sparkler priced somewhere north of $100,000 . . . Movie actress Gwyneth Paltrow & Coldplay hubby Chris Martin, reportedly expecting their 2nd child, have jetted off for a romantic winter getaway to celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary at the Amangala Hotel, located within the walls of a 17th-century castle on the Indian Ocean island nation of Sri Lanka . . . And China is in the midst of “Desperate Housewives”-mania as the entire 1st season is airing on state-run CCTV8 in just 7 days, with 3 shows back-to-back-to-back each night (it’s said to be a much ‘tidied-up’ version of ‘Wisteria Lane’).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Bo Bice – TONIGHT he guests on ABC-TV’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live”.
• Elton John – His $175,000 ‘bachelor party’ at London nightclub Too2Much included celeb guests like Sting & George Michael, and a minute-long congratulatory video from Bill Clinton.
 58-year-old Elton & his 42-year-old partner David Furnish will wed WEDNESDAY in Windsor.
• Enrique Iglesias – His grandfather Julio Iglesias Sr is set to become a dad again … at the age of 90! The 43-year-old wife of the retired gynecologist is expecting their 2nd child, which will make Enrique the nephew of an uncle 31 years younger, and his singer father Julio Jr, a new brother just weeks before his 63rd birthday.
• Jennifer Lopez – Her oft-repeated claim that she doesn’t smoke or drink has been called into question after she was recently snapped smoking a cigarette. Her rep insists it wasn’t a real cigarette … it was a prop.
• Madonna – It seems she’s everywhere since releasing her new CD. She’s now rumored to be doing a fashion shoot for “Harper’s Bazaar” magazine.
• In music stores TODAY: Jamie Foxx’s “Unpredictable”; Mary J Blige’s “The Breakthrough”; Ryan Adams’ “29″; Depeche Mode’s “Pain That I’m Used To”; The Notorious BIG’s “Duets”; and “Phish, Live at Madison Square Garden: New Year’s Eve 1995″.

TODAY’S VIDEO RELEASES:
• “The Brothers Grimm” (Fantasy Comedy – DVD): Matt Damon & Heath Ledger star in Terry Gilliam’s oddball comedy that recasts fairytale collectors, the Grimm Brothers, as scammers posing as supernatural exterminators. The traveling con-artists eventually encounter a genuine fairytale curse which requires actual courage to conquer instead of their usual bogus exorcisms.
• “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (Horror Thriller – DVD): Laura Linney plays a defense lawyer haunted by dark forces while defending a priest (Tom Wilkinson) who is charged with negligent manslaughter after performing an exorcism. Filmed in Vancouver, much of it at UBC.
• “Serenity” (Sc-Fi Adventure – DVD/VHS): Joss Whedon’s short-lived TV series “Firefly” is transformed into a lively, humor-laden bigscreen sci-fi Western. Nathan Fillon plays a rebel soldier-turned-smuggler who leads a rough-and-tumble crew.
• “Must Love Dogs” (Romantic Comedy – DVD):  Diane Lane plays a divorced single who, after choosing another ‘Mr Wrong’, swears off dating. But her close-knit Irish-American family enrolls her in a number of online dating services, one of which turns up what just may be the perfect guy (John Cusack). Based on Claire Cook’s 2002 novel.
• “Four Brothers” (Crime Thriller – DVD): Mark Wahlberg, André Benjamin (Outkast), Tyrese Gibson & Garrett Hedlund play estranged adopted brothers who reunite to take revenge on the man who gunned down their mother during a supermarket holdup.
• “The Great Raid” (War Drama – DVD): Benjamin Bratt & James Franco star as WW2 military officers who plan and lead a raid on a POW camp in the Philippines to save the prisoners from execution. Based on the true story of the most successful rescue mission in US military history.
• Also out on DVD TODAY: “The Amazing Race: The 7th Season”; “The Biggest Loser Workout, Vol 1″; “Party of Five: The Complete 2nd Season”; and “Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.0″.

FUTURE MAIL:
An unusual new service is being offered by a Website: having e-mail sent years in the future to – yourself. As technology’s answer to time capsules, FutureMe.org allows people to send messages as far as 30 years into the future, though users seem to be averaging closer to 3 years. In order for the service to work, users are urged to hang on to their current e-mail address, but there’s no ironclad guarantee that the message will ever arrive. A mail server could go out of business, or technology could change to a totally new format. Still, that hasn’t deterred more than 112,000 future messages from being submitted. (What message would you send to yourself?)
NET: http://www.FutureMe.org
– “Scientific American”

WHAT’S THAT AGAIN?
iPods and other MP3 players may be THE thing these days but according to an expert, the earbuds generally used with them increase the risk of hearing loss. Dean Garstecki, a Northwestern University audiologist, says an increasing number of young people are now experiencing the kind of hearing loss previously only found in aging adults. Garstecki says earbuds are far more likely than muff-type earphones to increase the risk of hearing loss. (Just ask Foxy Brown … in sign language.)
– ANI Health & Science

WHAT WOULD JESUS WEAR?
A 67-year-old Quaker grandfather is setting up the world’s first ‘Christian Nudist Camp’ to open NEXT SUMMER. Bill Martin’s 200-acre Christian-oriented family naturist village 40 miles north of Tampa FL called ‘Natura’ will entail 50 houses surrounding a non-denominational church, where clothing for services will be optional. The development will also eventually include room for up to 100 recreational vehicles and a commercial ‘strip mall’. (And who knows, maybe someday a ‘born-again whorehouse’.)
NET: http://www.naturist-christians.org/
– Columbia News Service

PUT ON A HAPPY FACE:
A new study suggests that happiness and success are, in fact, linked but perhaps not the way you might think. Researchers at the University of California, University of Missouri and University of Illinois have found that success doesn’t necessarily bring happiness but happy people tend to be more successful. This flies in the face of the conventional thinking that happiness comes as a result of accomplishments. The study suggests that, as well as more successful careers, happy people are more likely to have fulfilling relationships, robust health and a long life. (Not to mention continuous sarcastic insults from co-workers.)
– “Globe & Mail”

BS LAW & DISORDER:
• A group of 40 people dressed in Santa Claus costumes has rampaged through Auckland, New Zealand causing mayhem. The drunken Santas threw beer bottles, urinated on vehicles from an overpass, assaulted security guards, and sprayed graffiti on buildings. Then they entered a convenience store yelling out ‘Merry Christmas’ and helping themselves to free beer. A spokesman for the group says the so-called ‘Santarchy’ is a worldwide movement designed to protest the commercialization of Christmas. 3 Santas have been charged with drunkenness and disorderly behavior.
• A Finnish citizen who’s used 5 different identities has been arrested on Norwegian public transit drunk and nearly naked … again. It seems the more the guy drinks, the more clothing he discards, and that’s led to $14,260 worth of fines in the city of Bergen alone. In fact, the boozer in the buff has apparently set a record for unpaid fines in Norway, with an estimated 99 of them outstanding. He’s repeatedly been expelled from the country … but keeps coming back.
• A gang of counterfeiters has been busted in Gary IN after one tried to pass a bogus $20-bill in a cafeteria. The cashier at Marquette Elementary School became suspicious and 3 people were picked up – two 10-year-old boys and a 12-year-old girl. Cops confiscated a total of $179 in counterfeit money after checking out one of the 4th-graders’ home computers. All three now face juvenile charges of forgery and theft. (Not to mention extra math homework for somehow creating $179 in 20s.)

DID YOU KNOW?
An estimated 7% of America’s 110 million homes with TVs now have digital video recorders, and that’s expected to rise to one-quarter of the TV population by sometime in 2007, according to ratings-taker Nielsen.
– AP

FLASHY PACKAGING:
Electronics-maker Siemens Corp is developing a paper-thin electronic-display technology so cheap that it may replace conventional labels on disposable packaging, from milk cartons to cereal boxes. In less than 2 years, the company says, the technology could transform consumer-goods packaging from the fixed ink-printed images of today to a digital medium of flashing graphics and text that displays prices, special offers or alluring photos, all blinking on miniature flat screens. (Seems your local supermarket’s soon gonna look like Vegas.)
– “Wired”

FOR THE DIFFICULT TO BUY FOR:
A Swiss chocolate maker is offering the ultimate in decadent pleasure – gold-plated chocolate. The precious pralines by DeLafée International are coated in 24-carat gold-leaf thin enough to be edible. A box of 2 sells for circa $25. Chocolatier Sebastien Jeanneret says both substances are just so wonderfully sinful he knew they would fit together. (Not to put to fine a point on it but, um … what happens later?)
– Ananova News

THE BULL SHEET 12.20.2K5

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1945 [60] Peter Criss (Criscoula), Brooklyn NY, classic rock drummer (KISS-“I Just Wanna Rock & Roll All Night”)

1946 [D-12/16/05] John Spencer (Speshock), NYC, TV actor (2002 Emmy Award for ‘Chief of Staff Leo McGarry’ on “The West Wing”)

1959 [46] Scott Goodyear, Toronto ON, TV auto racing analyst (ABC-TV Sports)/Indy Car racing driver who broke a bone in his back in 2001 “Indianapolis 500″

1966 [39] Chris Robinson, Atlanta GA, rock singer (Black Crowes-“Hard to Handle”)/Mr Kate Hudson since 2000

1990 [15] JoJo (Joanna Levesque), Foxborough MA, pop singer (“Leave [Get Out]”)

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Games Day”. The best-selling board game of all-time? ‘Monopoly’, with over 200 million games sold in 80 countries and in 26 languages since 1935. In fact, an estimated 500 million people around-the-world have played ‘Monopoly’ since its inception.

• “I’ve Got My Big Fat Pants On Day”, a day to wear anything you want as long as it’s comfortable and roomy. (Wouldn’t this be better celebrated AFTER the holidays?)

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1946 [59] Frank Capra’s classic Christmas film “It’s A Wonderful Life”, starring Jimmy Stewart, premieres in NYC

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1952 [53] Jimmy Boyd’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” reaches #1 on pop charts

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1911 [94] 1st ‘Artificial Ice Rink’ (created by Frank Patrick in Vancouver BC)

1919 [86] Canadian National Railway (CNR) is established

1928 [77] 1st ‘International Dogsled Mail’ leaves Minot, Maine for Montréal QC

1979 [26] “Trivial Pursuit” is invented by Montréal journalists Chris Haney & Scott Abbott to settle an argument over who’s the better board game player (patented December 10, 1981 and generates $1 billion in sales in 1984 alone)

1842 [163] 1st ‘In-Home Bathtub’ in America unveiled at Adam Thompson’s house party in Virginia

1879 [126] 1st demonstration of ‘Incandescent Light Bulb’ by Thomas Edison (Christmas tree lights developed just 3 years later by Edison’s assistant Edward Johnson)

1980 [25] 1st (and only) NFL telecast with NO announcers (as a stunt, NBC-TV uses only sounds and graphics for meaningless Jets-Dolphins game)

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Winter begins (1:35 pm ET)
[Wed] “Cheaper By the Dozen 2″ & “Fun With Dick and Jane” open in movie theaters
[Thurs] Abilities Day
[Fri] “Hoodwinked”, “The Matador” & “The Ringer” open in movie theaters
[Sat] Egg Nog Day
This Week Is … International Language Week
This Month Is … Safe Toys & Gifts Month

BULL’S BITS

THE 7 NOT-SO-DEADLY SINS:
Not as bad as the originals, but perhaps more annoying …
7. Blind Obedience
6. Ignorance
5. Cowardice
4. Rudeness
3. Phoniness
2. Dullness
1. Sloppiness
What would you add to the list?
– “Weekly World News”

BS PHONE STARTERS:
• If you could bring one fictional character to life, whom would you choose?
• What’s the absolute worst seasonal song of all-time? 1994’s “Meowy Christmas” by the Jingle Cats maybe?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: 1 in 5 women say that a man has actually asked them to do THIS while in a car on a date.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Pay for gas.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
The best vitamin for making friends … B-1.

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