Thursday, December 1, 2022 – Edition: #7370

Sheet Happens!

 

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
(***UPDATE***) ★ Christine McVie, the smoky-voiced co-lead singer and keyboardist of Fleetwood Mac, has died at 79. A post on her Instagram account reads: “On behalf of Christine McVie’s family, it is with a heavy heart we are informing you of Christine’s death. She passed away peacefully at hospital this morning, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, following a short illness.” McVie, who left the group in 1998 then rejoined in 2014, wrote and sang many of the band’s biggest hits, including ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘Everywhere’ and ‘Little Lies’.
-UCR, TorStar
★ Legendary comedian-actor Jim Carrey has joined Twitter’s celebrity exodus, offering up his love for fans, and an animated video version of his “crazy old lighthouse keeper” painting. In a blurb, Carey wrote that he is leaving Twitter, and the animation is about “standing naked in a storm, summoning the angels and shining his lamp to guide us through a treacherous night.” Carrey joins many other celebrities who have ditched Twitter since Elon Musk’s takeover just over a month ago, including Shonda Rhimes, David Simon, Toni Braxton, Whoopi Goldberg, Gigi Hadid, Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger, Jack White, Alex Winter and more. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yc2bmsnf
-Twitter
★ “Saturday Night Live” is closing out the year with 3 back-to-back episodes. Steve Martin and Martin Short are set to co-host together, with “Elvis” star Austin Butler hosting the final show of 2022. The news comes after “Nope” star Keke Palmer was set as host of the December 3 show, with SZA as musical guest. “Only Murders in the Building” stars Martin and Short will host on December 10, with Brandi Carlile as musical guest. Martin has hosted the show 15 times and has guested 19 times, including 2 appearances this year. Short was a cast member in 1984-85 and has hosted 3 times before.
-Deadline
★ “Top Gun: Maverick,” the biggest box office hit of 2022, is returning to theaters tomorrow. Paramount says the re-release will last through Dec. 15, the day before Disney/20th Century’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” is set to make its theatrical debut — and one week before “Maverick” makes its streaming debut on Paramount+ on Dec. 22. In a release, Paramount said: “Top Gun: Maverick truly epitomizes the magic of the moviegoing experience, and we wanted to provide fans the opportunity to once again enjoy this cinematic spectacle as it was meant to be seen.”
-The Wrap
★ Jonah Hill is legally changing his name — but you won’t need to call him anything different. According to documents, the actor — whose real name is Jonah Hill Feldstein — filed a petition this week in L.A. to legally drop ‘Feldstein’ from his name. So, really, he’s just making his stage name official. The docs say Jonah simply wants the name he’s publicly gone by for years to be his legal name now. Last month, “Breaking Bad’s” Aaron Paul, whose last name is actually ‘Sturtevant’, also filed for a legal change — to ‘Paul’.
-TMZ

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): Don Cheadle, Zoey Deutch, Chris Isaak
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Adam Sandler, Greta Gerwig, Dane Cook, Babyface Ray with Keke Palmer
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): John Krasinski, Sarah Polley
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): David Duchovny, Sarah Jones (R)
• “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS/CTV): David Harbour, Sarah Hyland, Dan Black
•  “The Daily Show” (COM): Hasan Minhaj
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): Jessica Chastain, Michael Shannon
• The View” (ABC/CTV): Mindy Kaling, LeAnn Rimes
• “The Talk”(CBS): Alfred Molina
• “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC/CTV): Common
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Check local listings): Dolly Parton
• “The Drew Barrymore Show” (Check local listings): Whoopi Goldberg, Matt Rogers
• “Jennifer Hudson Show” (Check local listings): Ken Jeong, Ashton Sanders, David Riherd
• “Sherri” (Check local listings): Loni Love, Pia Toscano
• “FIFA World Cup 2022” (Fox, TSN): Croatia vs Belgium; Canada vs Morocco; Japan vs Spain; Costa Rica vs Germany
• “Frozen II” (ABC): After hearing a mysterious voice, Elsa the Snow Queen travels beyond her kingdom – on an adventure that soon turns into a journey of self-discovery.
• “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas” (NBC): Premiere. Dolly returns to Dollywood to star in a new holiday musical with special guests Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jimmie Allen, Zach Williams, Miley Cyrus and many more.
• “Freddie Mercury: The Final Act” (CW): Showcasing the extraordinary final chapter of his life and how, after his death from AIDS, Queen staged one of the biggest concerts in history.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Drake — DJ Khaled turned 47 on Saturday, Drizzy celebrated by giving him…4 luxury toilets worth at least $20,000. Khaled showed them off on Instagram, listing some of its features, such as UV-light cleaning, remote control, deodorizer and heated seats. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/z76fszzz
• The Weeknd – Monday, not only did he reveal the show dates for the international leg of his “After Hour ‘Til Dawn” tour, he also announced a plan to contribute proceeds to the XO Humanitarian Fund, to fight the global hunger crisis, through the U.N. World Food Programme. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yz3c7cmr
• Brett Michaels – The Poison singer has announced he is bringing his a solo “Parti-Gras” tour to at least a dozen amphitheaters across North America next summer, with help from Night Ranger, Jefferson Starship and other guests. LINK: https://www.bretmichaels.com/parti-gras-2023/
• Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard — have announced a pair of smaller US shows for February before they embark on their mammoth world tour. They’ll hit Atlantic City, N.J., for shows at the Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena Feb. 10 and 11, the first Crüe shows with new touring guitarist John 5. The 2 groups will play stadiums across Latin America and Europe, beginning Feb. 18 in Mexico City.
• Kenny Loggins and Richard Marx – are 2 of the all star cast of musicians that teamed up for a new rendition of Donny Hathaway’s holiday classic ‘This Christmas’. The song, also featuring Michael McDonald, Melissa Manchester, Lamont Dozier, Jr., Freda Payne, Frank McComb, Florence LaRue and more, premiered on Nov. 29 for “Giving Tuesday”. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yfak55sj
• Blake Shelton – sings a new charity cover of Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’. The music and arts platform GoodNoise.io has premiered the all-star song, which also features Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit (Eagles) on guitar and bass, and Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses) on drums. Goodnoise benefits a number of causes. LINK: https://goodnoise.io/#New-drop
• Kane Brown – has joined the lineup for the 2023 Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest, leading up to Super Bowl LVII. He’s splitting the bill with headliners Imagine Dragons on February 11, the final day of the 3-day music fest. Paramore and Dave Matthews are also each headlining a day. The Super Bowl takes place Sunday, February 12.
• Toby Keith – wants to hit the road. In his first interview since he revealed his stomach cancer diagnosis in June, he said: “I’m thinking about getting back to fightin’ shape. I need a little bit of time to just rest up and heal up.” He said he has been through a lot, but “as long as everything stays hunky-dory, then we’ll look at something good in the future.”

SHOOTING THE BULL

EARLY RISERS GET THE WORDS:
It turns out that early risers are smarter than those who prefer to stay up late, in spite of the stereotype of the deep-thinking night-owl, staying up until dawn writing brilliant prose, or engrossed in his own brilliant thoughts. Researchers at the University of Ottawa Sleep Research Laboratory found that, contrary to earlier studies, which generally have concluded that it’s the night-owl with all the brain power, it’s the people who are up with the roosters who display higher verbal intelligence. In a series of studies, they found that typically, younger people tend to be “evening types,” while older individuals and those more regularly entrenched in their daily/nightly activities are more often “morning types.” Ironically, morning is usually a critical time for young people, especially those still attending school.
(Actually, in my experience, it’s not what time I get up that affects my “verbal intelligence” – it’s what time I have my first coffee!)
(The one gaping hole in all this research telling us that early risers are smart is this: The show you’re listening to right now!)
-StudyFinds

OLD DOG (AND CAT) – NEW TRICKS:
It’s just another example of how our pets are sometimes BETTER than us. A OnePoll survey of 2,000 dog and cat parents looked at the experiences of having younger and senior pets and found that as they get older, pets can get smarter. Our mature animals are better at interacting with other pets or people (72%) and learning new tricks/commands (56%) than when they were younger. While 54% said younger pets are easy to teach, 87% say that you can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks. Parents of senior pets also reported a stronger emotional connection with their pets than those with younger pets (91% vs. 85%). And those with older pets say they have learned a few things about aging from their pets, too – for example: “age doesn’t determine how fun or sociable you can or cannot be,” take things “in stride one day at a time” and “be patient with younger generations.”
(Also: Hang out on the couch all day…but expect that sooner or later, someone will pass gas and blame you!)
(Cats aren’t so good at learning new tricks as they get older…but they definitely get even better at judging you!)
-StudyFinds

MEETIN’ POTATOES:
GREAT news for those who loaded up on grandma’s famous mashed potatoes over the Thanksgiving holiday. It turns out that potatoes (of all things) just might be a secret weapon when trying to “lose weight with little effort”. I know – this flies in the face of everything we’ve been led to believe. But researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana say they have discovered the surprising health benefit of potatoes. The root vegetable has long been snubbed as too starchy for people with insulin resistance, and was once thought of as a contributor to type 2 diabetes. But because potatoes are low-calorie but very filling, the researchers found that filling a plate full of potatoes can contribute to a shrinking waistline, and be a crucial part of a healthy diet. How? “People tend to eat the same weight of food regardless of calorie content in order to feel full,” says professor Candida Rebello, a co-author of the study. By eating foods with a heavier weight that are low in calories, you can easily reduce the number of calories you consume.” That statement is in line with her research, in which test subjects lost weight not by reducing portion sizes, but by lowering caloric content by including potatoes, and reducing meat consumption, resulting in participants feeling “fuller, quicker”, and often not even finishing their meals.
(Trust me, my sister and I proved the part about not finishing meals with a lot of potatoes when we were like 6 years old!)
(But what’s the use of eating potatoes if you can’t add bacon bits, cheese, sour cream and a quarter-pound of butter!)
-StudyFinds

UNDERRATED CHRISTMAS GIFTS:
A recent AskReddit thread gave answers to the question: “What is the most underrated Christmas gift?” Here are some of the best…
☞ “At work, we were doing the white elephant thing…The plan was to buy goofy, funny things…When I opened mine, it was a 124-pack of toilet paper. Everybody thought it was funny, but I’ve never even come close to receiving a gift as amazing as that.”
☞ “Restaurant gift cards, especially for local, non-chain restaurants. You give them a reason to go eat out with their S.O. It’s thoughtful and usually will bring them a lot of joy.”
☞ “Every year, my grandma would get everyone toilet paper, deodorant, toothpaste, Q-Tips…didn’t realize how great it was until she was gone.”
☞ “Nice sheets or towels. Everybody enjoys them, but no one I know can ever justify spending good money on sheets or towels. I have gifted a bunch, and they are always well received.”
☞ “Premium subscription to something the person already uses the free version of. They’re guaranteed to use it, and it’s something they’ve decided that they weren’t going to splurge on themselves for.”
☞ “One year, when I was pretty broke, someone gave me a nice tote filled with non-perishables. I suddenly had a nice stockpile of stuff like soup, crackers, and cookies, and on top of that, had a tote to store stuff in when I emptied it! It was way more useful to me than a soap set or something…”
☞ “Pet toys. I love when people remember my kitties.”
☞ “Underwear. I never buy that (***a-hem…“stuff”***).
(***Ask for more!***)
-BuzzFeed

DID YOU KNOW?
A new study has found that bats have a better vocal range than Mariah Carey. According to the research by the University of Denmark, bats can reach a vocal range of 7 octaves — nearly double that of a normal human being. Lead author Prof. Coen Elemans said: “Most mammals have a range of 3-4, and humans about 3. Some human singers can reach a range of 4-5, but…very few. Well-known examples are Mariah Carey, Axl Rose and Prince.” (What’s more, there has never been a documented example of a bat requiring a teleprompter to sing their BIGGEST hit in the middle of Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade!)
-NYPost

BS CHRONOMETER 12.01.22

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Advent Calendar Day”, the day many kids begin opening one compartment on their seasonal calendar each day through December 24th. (Who are we kidding? Through about Dec 10, when the rest mysteriously disappear.) [***See “BS Random Joke”, below***]
• “Rosa Parks Day”, celebrated on either Feb. 4 (her birthday), and on Dec. 1, the anniversary of the date in 1955 when she was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus and give her seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, AL, making her a symbol of the American Civil Rights Movement.
• “Wear a Dress Day”, A dress-wearing day is a rare occurrence for some, but just like any other day for others. Happening on both June 1st and December 1st, Wear a Dress Day is “simply a day to wear a dress and have fun.”
• “Antarctica Day”, celebrating the December 1, 1959 signature of the Antarctic Treaty, signed by 12 nations to set aside the entire continent (nearly 10% of the planet) to be forever used exclusively for peaceful purposes in the interests of all mankind.
• “World AIDS Day”, the annual day of AIDS awareness and education, first declared by the UN’s World Health Organization in 1988. The official symbol of “World AIDS Day” is the red ribbon. In some communities, the occasion is observed as “Day Without Art”. LINK: http://www.worldaidsday.org
• “Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day”, a day of lamentation for all those forced to tip their heads back open-mouthed in order to use a computer, thanks to their need for bifocal lenses. You’re encouraged to free yourself from blurry images today by getting an eye exam, whether you suffer from ‘presbyopia’ (the Greek word for ‘aging eye’) or not.
• “National Pie Day”, a special day set aside to bake your favorite pies. On this day, you are also encouraged to try a new pie recipe. (And most importantly, it’s a day to eat pies!)

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Fri] Fritters Day
[Fri] Mutt Day
[Sat] Make a Gift Day
[Sun] Cookie Day
This Week is…Tolerance Week
This Month is…Awareness Month of Awareness Months Month

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1935 [87] Woody Allen (Allen Konigsberg), Brooklyn NY, film director/writer/actor (“Blue Jasmine”, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”)/3 Oscars (“Annie Hall” “Hannah & Her Sisters”, “Midnight in Paris”)

1944 [78] John Densmore, Los Angeles CA, rock drummer (The Doors-‘Light My Fire’, ‘L.A. Woman’)

1945 [77] Bette Midler, Honolulu HI, pop singer (‘The Rose’)/movie actress (“The First Wives Club”)

1957 [65] Deep Roy, Nairobi Kenya, movie actor (“Big Fish”, and his body was digitally duplicated to play all the ‘Oompa Loompas’ in 2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”)

1970 [52] Sarah Silverman, Bedford NH, comedian/TV personality (“Sarah Silverman Program” 2007-10, movies/“Wreck-It Ralph”) COMING UP…“Maestro”, 2023

1977 [45] Brad Delson, Agoura CA, rock guitarist (Linkin Park-‘Numb’, ‘In The End’)

1982 [40] Riz Ahmed, London England, movie actor (“Rogue One”, “Nightcrawler”)

1985 [37] Janelle Monáe, Kansas City KS, pop/soul singer/songwriter (‘Cold War’, fun. f/Janelle Monáe-‘We Are Young’)

1988 [34] Tyler Joseph, Columbus OH, rapper-singer (Twenty One Pilots-‘Heathens’, ‘Stressed Out’)

1988 [34] Zoe Kravitz, Venice CA, movie actress (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, “Divergent” series)/TV actress (“Big Little Lies” 2017-19)/daughter of Lisa Bonet & Lenny Kravitz

2003 [19] Robert Irwin, Melbourne Australia, conservationist/reality TV star (“Crikey! It’s the Irwins” since 2018)/son of late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2003 [19] The 3rd and final “Lord Of the Rings” movie, “The Return Of the King”, premieres in Wellington NZ (11 Oscars, became the #2 grossing movie all-time, now it is #26, at $1.15 billion)

2006 [16] GQ magazine names Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson “Newlyweds of the Year,” but by the time the issue hits newsstands, the couple are divorced

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1971 [51] John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’ is released

2011 [11] It’s a good day for comedy writers and late-night talk show hosts as Hanson announces “MMMHop” beer (a take off on their one-and-only hit “MMMBop” in 1997)

2018 [04] Nick Jonas marries Priyanka Chopra in Jodhpur India.

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2019 [03] The earliest traceable patient, a 55-year-old man, develops symptoms of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1997 [25] Using a technique called circular breathing, Kenny G sets the world record for longest note held on a wind instrument (saxophone) at 45 minutes and 47 seconds. (in 2017 — Femi Kuti breaks the record, going 51:35)

BULL’S BITS

BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ Popcorn is one of the healthiest snacks. It builds bone, muscle, tissue, aids digestion, and is good for the teeth.
✓ There are 30 times more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way. It’s estimated that there are 100 billion stars and 3 trillion trees.
✓ Forrest Mars, the creator of Peanut M&M’s, was allergic to peanuts.
✓ Lions are the only cats that live in packs.
✓ If you refrigerate rubber bands, they will last longer.
✓ The first roller coaster was used to transport coal down a hill. After people saw how fast it moved, they asked to pay for a ride on it.
-DidYouKnow, TheFactSite

Best of BS . . .
BS PONDERABLES:
• If crime doesn’t pay… does that mean my job is a crime?
• Do fish get thirsty?
• Do pilots take crash-courses?
• If nobody buys a ticket to a movie, do they still show it?
• How do you know if honesty is the best policy unless you’ve tried some of the others?
• If you have a cold hot pocket, is it just a pocket?
• Why do they call it ‘chili’ if it’s hot?
• If you pamper a cow, do you get spoiled milk?
• What happened to Old Zealand?
• How did Walt Disney figure out how to make people pay to stand in lines all day and then come back for more the next day?
• How do you get off a nonstop flight?
-Fun-Stuff-to-do, first published in BS in 2017

TODAY’S SCOOP OF BS:
➠ Jill and Joe Biden just unveiled the White House Christmas Tree. (Everyone who matters was there.  Also, Kamala Harris.)
➠ A Michigan woman wants to remain anonymous after winning over a quarter million dollars in the state lottery. (So, be on the lookout for a woman trying to buy a gold water purifier…)
➠ Someone left a gold coin valued at $1,900 in a Salvation Army donation kettle. (This reaffirms my faith in humanity. Then I see Kanye West — and it’s gone again!)
➠ A study found that men who wear red send out a signal that they’re angry and aggressive. (That explains why I just got flipped off when I asked the Target worker for a price-check…)
➠ Fact of the Day: Billions of years from now, Earth will have a 30-hour day. (That’s ALL I need – an extra 6 hours a day of my kids playing video games in the basement…)

BS WEB GOODIE:
It works:   https://tinyurl.com/2p8wanfu

BS RANDOM JOKE:
“One door closes, another opens. One door closes, another opens. One door closes, another opens”.
That’s me, with a chocolate advent calendar…

BS PHONE STARTER:
If you could create a holiday, what would it be? What traditions would it have…and what would we eat?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question:  33% of THESE happen between now and New Year’s Day. What are they?
Answer:  Marriage proposals

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.