Monday, December 10, 2007 Edition: #3673
Jingle Bull … Jingle Bull …
WEEKEND TABLOID & BLOG BS:
• Wed on the weekend: 34-year-old Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough & his 7-year real estate broker-girlfriend Leigh Boniello in Orlando FL. 46-year-old former “Happy Days” star Scott Baio married longtime girlfriend Renée Sloan in a roof-top ceremony in LA which they agreed to have filmed for the 2nd season of his reality TV show “Scott Baio is 45 … And Single” (how classy). And a report that claims has-been pop singer Nick Lachey (98 Degrees) & his MTV host-girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo wed in a secret ceremony in the Bahamas has been denied … by Lachey himself. He says he’s too busy working on his upcoming NBC-TV show, “Clash of the Choirs”, in his hometown of Cincinnati OH. (Debuts 1 week today, DECEMBER 17th.)
– “People Magazine” / StarPulse News
• Actress Jessica Biel and soccer star David Beckham have been voted the ‘cleanest’ (most healthy-living) celebs in a new poll by health & detox website SoCal Cleanse. The runners-up are actor Matt Damon and country star Carrie Underwood. And the ‘dirtiest’ (most unhealthy)? Not surprisingly, Brit singer Amy Winehouse and rock drummer Tommy Lee take the dubious top honors, followed by actor David Hasselhoff and famous person Paris Hilton.
– “NY Post”
• Janis Winehouse, 52-year-old mother of 24-year-old British singer Amy Winehouse has written an open letter pleading with her daughter to come home so she can be looked after by her family. Mom begs daughter to put aside her career and focus on her health. (Where were these concerned parents when the twisted kid was growing up?)
– “News Of the World”
• The producers of the “Sex & The City: The Movie” are reportedly so convinced it will be a hit, they’ve already begun planning a sequel. In fact, they think they can stretch the franchise over at least 3 movies. Star Sarah Jessica Parker (‘Carrie Bradshaw‘) is said to be eager to exercise the sequel option written into her contract. (It’s not like other acting roles are pouring in.)
– “Mail On Sunday”
• Former “Riverdance” star Michael Flatley has been awarded an $11 million-settlement over real estate agent Tyna Marie Robertson’s allegation that he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2002. She filed a $33-million sexual assault claim against him LAST YEAR. The civil action was dismissed and Flatley lodged a $100-million counter-suit for extortion and defamation. (The end result of all this litigation – there’s a couple of really rich law firms somewhere.)
– ContactMusic.com
• Although ratings for NBC-TV’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” are down 19% since the strike of the Writers Guild of America began LAST MONTH, ratings for reruns of CBS-TV’s “The Late Show With David Letterman” are actually up 4%. Interestingly, the financial impact of the strike on the networks has been largely offset by the fact that they’re saving more than $1 million a week in production costs while still taking in ad revenue from reruns. (The nets are also off the hook for payroll as the hosts are footing the bill for staffers while the strike continues.)
– “New York Times“
• Shanna Moakler claims she knows why Brazilian race-car driver Helio Castroneves has ditched his fiancé for his “Dancing with the Stars” partner Julianne Hough. It’s because the dancing is ‘so hot & sexual’. When you work with someone 8 hours-a-day for 3 months doing these really sexy moves, you can’t help but fall for them she says. Moakler admits she hooked up with her own “Dancing With the Stars” partner, Jesse DeSoto, but claims it was above-board because she was separated from hubby Travis Barker (Plus-44) at the time. (This is what passes in Hollywood for scruples.)
– PageSix.com
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• ABBA – A new museum dedicated to the supergroup of the ‘70s and ‘80s is due to open in Stockholm, Sweden in JUNE 2009. The 3-floor complex will include an area where fans can make their own recordings of ABBA hits and a wardrobe room dedicated to the group’s famous fashions.
• Creed – Former frontman Scott Stapp will not stand trial for domestic assault charges over an incident in MAY when he hurled a bottle at his wife’s head because … they’re back together. A felony assault charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor after Stapp agreed to undergo drug & alcohol testing.
• Fergie – She’s denying speculation in “Us Weekly” magazine that suggests she’s undergone cosmetic surgery on her nose and eyebrows. A cosmetic surgeon is quoted as saying she’s likely had a rhinoplasty procedure.
• Garth Brooks – His new single is “Workin’ for a Livin’”, a duet with Huey Lewis. It’s a remake of the 1982 pop release by Huey Lewis & the News.
• Kid Rock – A federal judge has dismissed Louisiana musician Troy Landry’s copyright infringement lawsuit, ruling he has not proven that Kid Rock’s “Somebody’s Gotta Feel This” is a ripoff of his own music from a 1994 album.
• KISS – They’re seeking $900,000 from Vancouver’s Big Mountain Concert Company, contending it pulled the plug just 12 days before a planned SEPTEMBER concert in Whistler BC. That, the lawsuit claims, caused ‘injury to their respective reputations’.
• Rascal Flatts – Guitarist Joe Don Rooney & wife Tiffany Fallon (2005 “Playboy” ‘Playmate of the Year’) are expecting their first child in MAY.
• Soulja Boy – He’s being sued by little-known rapper Willie Lyons, who claims he first created and used the stage name ‘Souljah Boy’. He’ll attempt to prove the “Crank That” star, real name DeAndre Way, is guilty of trademark infringement.
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• Boyz II Men – The #1-selling ‘90s R&B group does “The View” (ABC).
• “The Hills” – The 3rd season finalé airs (MTV), as Whitney gets a work offer in Paris, Lauren struggles to figure out where her relationship with Brody stands, and wedding disputes put Heidi & Spencer’s future in jeopardy. It’s preceded by the 2-hour “The Hills Finale: Live in Hollywood” pre-show special and followed by an after-show analysis. Some 40 devotees from the US & Canada are being flown in as winners of ‘The Hills Biggest Fan Contest’.
• Josh Groban – He’s on “Live With Regis & Kelly” (syndicated/CTV).
• Led Zeppelin – Their reunion concert at London’s O2 Arena finally comes together after a delay due to guitarist Jimmy Page’s fractured finger. Tickets sold out at $250 with a limit of 2 per person. The tribute concert to late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun also features Pete Townshend (The Who), Bill Wyman (ex-Rolling Stones), Foreigner, and Paolo Nutini.
• Liz Phair – She performs on a vintage edition of “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC).
• Third Eye Blind – The ‘90s alt-rockers are featured on a rerun of “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS).
LEAST FASCINATING’ CELEBS OF 2007:
These folks who are famous for being famous seriously need to go away – now …
• Kim Kardashian – She’s attempting to follow ‘The Celebutante’s Guide to Getting Famous’, appearing in her own reality show, a “Playboy” spread, and a leaked sex tape. It’s not working.
• Sanjaya Malakar – He became a household name on “American Idol”. But it wasn’t for the singing, it was the fact we were laughing at him … not with him, AT him.
• Amy Winehouse – Thanks to drugs, booze, brawls, meltdowns and public displays of batty-eyed lunacy, she’s managed a decade’s-worth of scandal in a single year.
• Tila Tequila – She’s gone from MySpace phenom to star of the MTV bisexual dating show, “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila”. Somebody needs to tell her … you ain’t that hot, honey.
• Tori Spelling – Her Oxygen Network TV show “Tori & Dean: Inn Love” could be a powerful treatment for insomnia. She’s not that talented and if you see her in close-up … ew!
• Isaiah Washington – He used a homophobic slur, then denied it, then apologized for it, but at no time seemed remotely remorseful. Even his character on “Grey’s Anatomy” wasn’t likeable.
• Britney Spears – Enough is enough. Play-by-play of the poor parenting, reckless driving, reluctant rehab, all-hours partying, and bad performances have just become tiring. Pull up your underpants and pull yourself together, girl! This routine is getting old, as are you.
– “Toronto Star”
‘BINGE EXERCISING’ BAD FOR HEALTH:
While hitting the gym can take you a long way toward being healthy, experts are now warning that you should avoid ‘binge exercising’ as it can have disastrous long-term effects. Researchers at the Institute of Sport & Recreation Management say that most people are over-enthusiastic when they first start exercising which makes them overdo it. This, in turn, leads to various physical problems such as damage to muscles, bones, and joints. (Yeah, that’s why I’ve cut back to one sit-up per day … first thing in the morning.)
– ANI
“RENDITION 2” DESTROYED:
The CIA has apparently destroyed video of suspected terrorists being subjected to waterboarding and other coercive techniques in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the news media. CIA director Michael Hayden says public exposure of the videos would have permitted identification of CIA operatives involved and exposed them to retaliation. (FYI, ‘waterboarding’ isn’t some form of beach recreation, it’s a torture technique that simulates drowning in a ‘controlled environment’.)
– “Washington Post”
HOLIDAY WEIGHT GAIN:
Conventional wisdom says we gain 10 lbs over the holiday season. Guess what? Wrong! A recent study finds that holiday feasting causes an average gain of only 1 lb. The bad news is … most of us never drop it and over the years those 1-lb gains can easily add up to a great big belly. (That shakes when you laugh like a bowl full of jelly.)
– “New England Journal of Medicine”
BS AMAZING FACT:
Of over 70,000 troops in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, only 8 are American.
– AskMen.com
BS CHRONOMETER 12.10.07
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1960 [47] Kenneth Branagh, Belfast, Northern Ireland, movie actor (“Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets”)/movie director (“Henry V”)/screenwriter (“Hamlet”)
1969 [38] Rob Blake, Simcoe ON, 6′-4”, 225-lb NHL defenceman (LA Kings, ex-Colorado Avalanche)
1970 [37] Kevin Sharp, Redding CA, country singer (“Nobody Knows”, “She’s Sure Taking It Well”)
1974 [33] Meg White, Grosse Pointe Farms MI, rock drummer (White Stripes-“Icky Thump”, “Seven Nation Army”) FACTOID: In the early 1990s, she met musician/songwriter Jack Gillis while working as a bartender in Royal Oak MI. They were reportedly married on September 21, 1996 when in his characteristically unorthodox fashion, he took her last name.
1985 [22] Raven Symoné (Pearman), Atlanta GA, TV actress (‘Raven Baxter’ on “That’s So Raven” since 2003, ‘Monique‘ on “Kim Possible” since 2002)/sometime movie actress (“The Princess Diaries 2”, “Fat Albert”)
BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Dewey Decimal Day”, honoring Melville Dewey who was born December 10, 1851 in Adams Center NY. When he was just 21, he invented the ‘Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) System’ while working as a student assistant in the Amherst College library. For creating this revolutionary new filing system, he’s known as the ‘Father of Modern Librarianship’.
• “Festival of Whirling Dervishes” through DECEMBER 17th in Konya, Turkey. Traditionally-dressed male dancers present their ‘sena’ or whirling ceremony when they spin in tight circles to achieve mystical union with heaven. This dizzy custom goes back over 700 years.
NET: http://tinyurl.com/yqwbpm
• “International Human Rights Day”, honoring the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
• “Nobel Prize Awards Day”. The awards were established by the will of Swedish chemist and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel and have been held on this date since 1901. The current value of each award is over $1 million. Among the 2007 winners are former US VP Al Gore and the UN’s climate change panel, who receive the ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ in Oslo, Norway. The star-studded “Nobel Peace Prize Concert” is staged TOMORROW. At an adjacent related event, George Clooney & Don Cheadle receive the 2007 ‘Peace Summit Award’ at the 8th annual “World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates”. The actors are being celebrated for their efforts in promoting peace in the war-torn region of Darfur.
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1990 [17] 1st “Billboard Music Awards” (Janet Jackson picks up 8 trophies)
2005 [02] Envelope-pushing comedian Richard Pryor dies in Encino CA at age 65
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1967 [40] Legendary soul singer Otis Redding and all of his backup band The Bar-Kays (save trumpeter Ben Cauley) are killed in a plane crash near Madison WI (“Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay” had been recorded 3 days before the accident)
1984 [23] African famine relief song “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid is released
1994 [13] Kenny G’s “Miracles: The Holiday Album” hits #1 on album charts and becomes best-selling Christmas album in history, selling over 8 million units
TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1998 [09] Team of 6 astronauts becomes 1st to occupy the International Space Station
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1972 [35] ‘Longest Non-Scoring Pass’ in NFL history as St Louis Cardinals QB Jim Hart passes from his own 1-yard-line to Bobby Moore (now known as Ahmad Rashad) who’s tackled at LA Rams’ 1-yard-line … a total of 98 yards with no score!
AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Poinsettia Day
[Wed] Ding-A-Ling Day
[Wed] “The Perfect Holiday“ opens in movie theaters
[Fri] Bouillabaisse Day
[Fri] “Alvin and the Chipmunks”; “I Am Legend”; “The Kite Runner” open in movie theaters
[Sun] Chocolate Covered Anything Day
[Sun] Las Posadas begins (Mexico)
THIS WEEK IS . . .
Civil Rights Week / Drunk Drivers Awareness Week / Handwashing Awareness Week / Human Rights Week
BULL’S BITS
BS U-PICK QUIZ:
• Who first had a “Blue Christmas”?
a. “Fred Claus”
b. Ray Charles
c. Elvis Presley [CORRECT]
• Who played ‘Santa’ in “The Santa Clause” movie?
a. Jim Carrey
b. Tim Allen [CORRECT]
c. Will Ferrell
• How many ‘la’s in a single line of “Deck the Halls”?
a. 9
b. 6
c. 8 plus 1 ‘fa’. [CORRECT]
BS PHONE STARTER:
Which automobile option could you not live without?
BS RANDOM JOKE:
When sharing last night’s dream, 2 minutes is plenty.
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: As we age, we have less and less of THESE.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Nightmares.
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.
BS FRESH MEAT:
A big bellow of thanks to these subscribers who have re-upped for another year of “BS”: Barry MacKinnon @ X-FM [CJFX] Antigonish NS; Scott Overton @ 790 CIGM Sudbury ON; Andy Wilson @ EZ Rock [CHUR] North Bay ON; and Art Pultz @ twin stations EZ Rock [CKGB] & Q92 [CJQQ] Timmins ON. And a salute to this week’s samplers, including Trent Allen @ Lite 92 [CHMX] Regina SK; Arturo Valentino @ OneWorld Radio, St Michael, Barbados; Kavir @ 5 FM , Pretoria, South Africa; and Connie Walsh @ KMTI AM 650 Manti UT.
