Thursday, December 13, 2007        Edition: #3676
It’s Your Daily Constitutional Sheet!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
A rep for Jessica Alba has confirmed the 26-year-old actress is expecting her first child with 28-year-old boyfriend Cash Warren, whom she met in 2004 on the set of “Fantastic Four” (they split up earlier THIS YEAR but then got back together soon after, apparently REALLY got back together) . . . New Nielsen stats show ESPN’s DECEMBER 3rd “Monday Night Football” game featuring the New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens is the most watched cable telecast ever, attracting 17.5 million viewers and eclipsing “High School Musical 2” (17.2 million in AUGUST) . . . 67-year-old “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek is said to be resting comfortably after suffering a minor heart attack and is expected to make a full recovery in time for the next scheduled taping in JANUARY . . . Paris Hilton is launching her own champagne brand, ‘Rich Pressco’, from which 20% of profits will go to charity . . . Korean electronics giant LG is now marketing the BH200 high-def disk player, capable of playing both HD-DVD and Blu-ray disks . . . 51-year-old Mel Gibson says he’s not sure he will ever make a return to acting because he prefers working behind the camera (and besides – no one’s been asking) . . . “X-Files” actress Gillian Anderson has signed on as host of a new version of the long-running PBS-TV series “Masterpiece Theatre” entitled “Masterpiece Classic”, debuting in JANUARY . . . Movie actor Terrence Howard (“The Perfect Holiday”) is set to star in a new production of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof”, scheduled to open on Broadway in MARCH . . . And Dr Jan Adams, the plastic surgeon who operated on Kanye West’s mother the day before she died has agreed to pay compensation to another former patient who sued him for medical malpractice – for leaving a sponge inside her during a surgery 11 years ago (she’s been thirsty ever since!).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Aerosmith – Frontman Steven Tyler has been questioned by police in Hollywood, Florida after his girlfriend Erin Brady was involved in a nightclub brawl with another woman. The scratching, hair-pulling, and hitting apparently only lasted a few seconds until security broke it up.
• Amy Winehouse – Word has it she’s finally getting some “Rehab” so she can perform at the 2008 “Grammy Awards”. She has 6 nominations, including ‘Best New Artist’ and ‘Album Of the Year’.
• Britney Spears – She’s reportedly being considered for a role in the quirky new film “Sweet Baby Jesus”, playing … the Virgin Mary.
• Carrie Underwood – She’ll perform live from NYC’s Times Square on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2008″.
• Celine Dion – She’s denying  rumors she suffers from anorexia, insisting her critics are just jealous of her slim figure. The 39-year-old claims her physique is simply a result of genetics.
• Gwen Stefani – She’s established the ‘Gwen Stefani After-the-Fires Scholarship’ that will be available to graduating high school seniors and college students whose families either lost their homes or source of income in the blazes that raged across Southern California.
• John Lennon – A lock of his hair once given to The Beatles’ hairdresser was expected to fetch over $6,000 at an auction in southern England YESTERDAY. Not a big investment for the potential of cloning another John.
• Led Zeppelin – Fans are being warned not to get sucked in by websites purporting to have tickets for an upcoming world tour. There isn’t one … yet.
• Travis Tritt – He’s suing his label, Category 5 Records, for $10 million in damages, alleging breach of contract and fraud. He says the new company’s competence was misrepresented to him. Hmm, seems his latest album, “The Storm”, isn’t selling like he’d hoped.
• U2 – A building heritage group is calling for a public consultation on their plans to build a multi-story hotel in Dublin, Ireland, claiming the so-called ‘U2 Tower’ will have environmental impact and change the skyline. The project has already been given the greenlight by local planning authorities.

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• Brooks & Dunn – They perform the title track of their new album “Cowboy Town” at the “Wrangler National Finals Rodeo” in Las Vegas. The tune has been named the event’s official song for the next 2 years.
• Velvet Revolver – 40-year-old lead singer Scott Weiland is due in a Los Angeles court to answer to a misdemeanor charge of DUI resulting from his NOVEMBER 21st arrest. The band’s Australian tour,  recently postponed due to unspecified ‘health issues’, has now been rescheduled for FEBRUARY.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
A BS selection of movies in the making …
• “Avatar” – The release of James Cameron’s $200-million sci-fi epic has been pushed back to DECEMBER 18th, 2009 (the same weekend his all-time box office champ “Titanic” was released in 1997). The delay is purportedly to allow more time for post-production, something that will now entail an incredible 18 months. But some say the real reason is to take advantage of the growing number of 3-D cinemas, expected to reach 4,000 screens by 2009.
• “Dirty Harry” – Russell Crowe is reportedly in talks to headline a remake of Clint Eastwood’s 1971 movie classic. The new film will be a new take on the original storyline about tough detective ‘Harry Callahan’ in 1970s San Francisco.
• “Leaves of Grass” – In this upcoming comedy/thriller, Edward Norton is set for double duty, playing an Ivy League classics professor and his cannabis-smoking criminal twin. The movie is an adaptation of an acclaimed BBC political drama. The ‘evil twin’ story won’t hit screens until 2009.
• “The Story of Amelia Earhart” – Hilary Swank will play the famous flyer in a biopic that starts shooting in late FEBRUARY in Hawaii and Nova Scotia. To prep for the role, she’s signed up for flying lessons. Swank says the film will NOT attempt to offer a solution to the mystery of Earhart’s disappearance over the central Pacific in 1937.
• “Tarzan” – “Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen” producer Jerry Weintraub is on the hunt for the next ‘Lord of the Jungle’. The movie mogul says he wants a total unknown to star in a new telling of the man-ape tale. Since 1918, close to 90 films have been based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs series of novels.
• “Untitled X Files Sequel” – Xzibit and Amanda Peet have signed on for the upcoming sequel production set to begin THIS MONTH in Vancouver, playing fellow FBI agents to David Duchovny’s ‘Mulder’ and Gillian Anderson’s ‘Scully’. Scottish comedian/actor Billy Connolly has also joined the cast. The film’s due to hit theaters in 2008.

FLOPS-TURNED-BLOCKBUSTERS:
Here’s an interesting new phenomenon: many movies that were box office flops are becoming money-making hits on DVD. Here are a few of the 2007 films that under-performed in theaters but have cleaned up afterward in DVD sellers/rentals …
• “Babel” (Brad Pitt & Cate Blanchett) … just $20 million in theater box office.
• “Blood Diamond” (Leonardo DiCaprio & Jennifer Connelly) … $57 million.
• “Fracture” (Anthony Hopkins & Ryan Gosling) … $39 million.
• “The Good Shepherd” (Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie & Matt Damon) … $38 million.
• “The Illusionist” (Edward Norton & Jessica Biel) … $40 million.
• “Premonition” (Sandra Bullock) … $48 million.
• “Shooter” (Mark Wahlberg) … $47 million.
– eTalk Daily

FASTER FLIGHT:
Some 4 years after the last paying passenger broke the sound barrier in the now-mothballed Concorde airliner, US aviation company Aerion has taken its first orders for a supersonic business jet. It will be slower and smaller than the old SST but will still knock 3 hours off the normal flight time between London and NYC. Like the Concorde, the 12-seat jet has a long pointed nose and sleek fuselage, and is expected to attract super rich customers wanting to be seen boarding the world’s fastest passenger aircraft. (Thereby creating another bazillion tons of carbon emissions.)
– “GQ”

TOUCHY EELY:
An aquarium in Gifu, Japan is using an electric eel to power the lights on a Christmas tree. Each time the electric eel at the Aqua Toto Gifu Aquarium touches a copper wire in its tank, it sends power that lights up the tiny globes decking the tree. Officials expect the ‘eel Christmas tree’ to be a popular attraction for dating couples. (Hmm, and why would that be?)
– “Mainichi Daily News”

THE PERP HAD GOOGLY EYES:
Researchers in the UK have found that police artists would be better off drawing cartoon caricatures of criminals rather than using the standard realistic pictures they now create. A study at the University of Central Lancashire found that cartoon-like faces were far better at jogging a witness’s memory of a perpetrator’s face. The experiment finds that standard police sketches result in a correct identification just 20% of the time, while caricatures are twice as effective, scoring in 40% of attempts. (This will be really helpful if you’re ever mugged by a ‘toon.)
– “The Guardian”

ITUNES BEST-SELLING ALBUMS OF 2007:
5. Colbie Caillat … “Coco”
4. Daughtry … “Daughtry”
3. Kanye West … “Graduation”
2. Amy Winehouse … “Back To Black”
1. Maroon 5 … “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long”
– “Day in Rock”

DID YOU KNOW?
• The first version of what became the ‘mall Santa’ appeared in 1900 in Los Angeles. The 5 original ‘Sidewalk Santas’ were actually booked for ‘creating a nuisance’ and hauled off to jail. They were later freed after a public outcry and went on to raise some $800 to provide Christmas dinners for the poor.
– Volunteers of America
• At the 4th annual “International Film Festival Summit”, there was an unaddressed anxiety: There may simply be too many film fests, with an estimated 4,000-to-7,000 worldwide each year.
– “Variety”
• The largest cocktail in history was made in 1694 by a British lord who concocted a drink in his garden fountain. It contained 250 gallons of brandy, 124 gallons of Malaga wine, 1,400 pounds of sugar, 2,500 lemons, 20 gallons of lime juice, and 5 pounds of nutmeg.
– “Cosmopolitan”

BS CHRONOMETER 12.13.07

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1925 [82] Dick Van Dyke, West Plains MO, movie actor ( “Curious George”, “Mary Poppins”)/TV actor (“Diagnosis Murder” 1993-2001, “Dick Van Dyke Show 1961-66, 1971-74)

1929 [78] Christopher Plummer, Toronto ON, movie actor (“National Treasure”, “Sound of Music”)/2 Tony Awards/2 Emmy Awards/1 Genie Award/Companion of the Order of Canada (1968)/Canada’s Walk of Fame (1999)/Governor-General’s Performing Arts Award (2001)

1943 [64] Ferguson Jenkins, Chatham ON, Canada’s first Hall of Fame MLB player (pitcher with 3,192 career Ks, 1971 Cy Young Award with Chicago Cubs, 20-game winner 7 times, only MLB pitcher to strike out over 3,000 while walking less than 1,000)

1957 [50] Steve Buscemi, Brooklyn NY, movie actor (“Monster House”, “Fargo”)/TV actor (“The Sopranos” 2004-05)

1967 [40] Jamie Foxx, Terrell TX, movie actor (“Dreamgirls”, 2004 Academy Award-“Ray”)/R&B singer (“Unpredictable”, Kanye West f/Jamie Foxx-“Gold Digger”)

1975 [32] Tom DeLonge, Poway CA, rock singer (Angels & Airwaves-“Everything’s Magic”, “The Adventure”, ex-Blink 182-“I Miss You”)

1981 [26] Amy Lee, Riverside CA, rock singer (Evanescence-“Call Me When You’re Sober”, “My Immortal”)

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “St Lucy’s Day”, honoring her 304 AD birth. Legend has it that, in order to follow a life of religious devotion, she cut out her eyes and sent them on a plate to a persistent lover who was haunted by them (especially afterward!). TODAY hotels in Sweden each feature their own ‘Lucia’, a young blond girl in white gown who serves guests coffee and ‘lussekatter’ (saffron buns) to celebrate.

• “Violins Day”, for some unknown reason. Don’t forget your G-string!

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1982 [25] Vanna White turns over her 1st letter on “Wheel of Fortune” … it’s a ‘T’ (man, what a soft touch to make a living, huh?)

1996 [11] “Jerry Maguire” opens in movie theaters, starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr & Renee Zellweger (and people everywhere begin yelling, “Show me the money!”)

TODAY’S RECORDS . . .
1983 [24] Detroit Pistons beat Denver Nuggets 186-184 in TRIPLE OT after 3 hours, 11 minutes to set NBA records for ‘Most Points by a Team’ and ‘Most Total Points in a Game’ (and Most Numb-Bums in the Stands!)

1988 [19] 3 men end 29-hour, all-466-station subway ride in NYC (and live to tell about it!)

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Fri] Bouillabaisse Day
[Fri] “Alvin & the Chipmunks”; “I Am Legend”; “The Kite Runner” open in movie theaters
[Sat] US Bill of Rights Day
[Sun] Chocolate Covered Anything Day
[Sun] Las Posadas begins (Mexico)
[Mon] Maple Syrup Day
[Tues] Bake Cookies Day
This Week Is … Drunk Drivers Awareness Week
This Month Is … Hi Neighbor Month

BULL’S BITS

BS THINGS THAT’LL GET YOU KICKED OUT OF A MALL:
• Pepper-spraying a perfume tester.
• Repeatedly asking a menswear salesman to measure your inseam.
• Blocking the down escalator for an hour while doing a Stairmaster workout.
• Shouting repeatedly from a dressing room, “Boy, do I look weird naked!”
• Licking the mannequins.

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Does an angel get its wings at the end of every boxing round?

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
• How many ‘swans a-swimming’ in “The 12 Days of Christmas”?
a. 7 [CORRECT]
b. 3
c. 8 plus 1 ugly duckling.     

• How do you say “Merry Christmas” in Spanish?
a. Oye Como Va
b. Adeste Fideles
c. Feliz Navidad [CORRECT]

BS PHONE STARTER:
Tell us about your unique/unusual/truly weird Christmas Eve ritual.

BS WEB GOODIE:
A promo site for FOX-TV’s new series “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” allows users to upload a photo and transform it into the ultimate T-888 Terminator model. Makes a perfect pic for your holiday greeting card, no?
NET: http://getterminated.com/

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: The more money you make, the less likely you are to do THIS at work during the holiday season.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Buy your boss a gift.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Some people aren’t officially angry until everyone knows about it.