Thursday, February 9, 2006 Edition: #3215
Sheeters ALWAYS Prosper!
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
TONIGHT at the “Interactive Achievement Awards”, the video-game industry’s equivalent of the “Oscars”, the game “God of War” leads all titles with 12 nominations, followed by “Shadow of the Colossus” with 9 . . . TONIGHT actress Nikki Reed, who at 13 wrote herself the plum part of a seductive, drug-abusing saboteur in the acclaimed 2003 art-house film “Thirteen”, joins FOX-TV’s “The OC” for at least 6 episodes as the new character ‘Sadie Campbell’ . . . TONIGHT on “Survivor: Exile Island”, the 4 tribes become 2 . . . Actor Samuel L Jackson risks losing his membership in the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences after revealing that he lets his family fill out his Oscar nominations form . . . Canadian movie actress Rachel McAdams was scheduled to also appear in the buff on the cover of the new “Vanity Fair “, alongside Keira Knightley & Scarlett Johansson, but pulled out at the last minute when she lost her nerve . . . A currently-running eBay auction of autographed celeb photos on behalf of Habitat for Humanity includes scribbles from the Beastie Boys, Justin Timberlake & others . . . Brazilian guitarist Rafael Moreira, who’s worked with Pink, Christina Aguilera & Marc Anthony, has been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon – a guitar! – after allegedly attacking a student at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood . . . Britney Spears is reportedly in negotiations to endorse a diet pill called ‘NV’, described as ‘an all-natural appetite suppressant developed in Canada’ . . . Latest word on the hot romance between “Lost” cast members Dominic Monaghan & Evangeline Lilly is that they’ll wed in Hawaii when the show’s current season wraps THIS SPRING . . . Why has actress Heather Locklear filed for divorce from Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora? Reports say she intercepted a steamy, X-rated e-mail to him from his 39-year-old former assistant, Stephanie Heaton, complete with provocative pics!
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Bob Marley – THIS WEEK the late reggae legend’s home in Kingston, Jamaica was declared a national monument at a ceremony commemorating what would have been his 61st birthday. His former home now houses the Tuff Gong International Music Studio.
• Bryan Adams – He’ll be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the “Juno Awards”, APRIL 2nd in Halifax. He’ll also perform at the show.
• Christina Aguilera – Website AwfulPlasticSurgery.com claims her upper lip is looking suspiciously oddly inflated of late. Another cosmetic improvement gone wrong?
• Kanye West – He’s been asked to write the theme song for “Mission: Impossible III”, the new Tom Cruise action thriller set to open in MAY.
• Madonna/Nelly – TODAY they guest on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show”.
• Pink Floyd – Veteran guitarist David Gilmour has trashed reports the legendary rockers will reunite for a world tour by declaring he’ll never perform with the band again.
• Rob Thomas – TONIGHT he performs on the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno”.
• U2 – Bono’s company, Elevation Partners, is looking at acquiring video-game publisher Take-Two Interactive, responsible for the successful but controversial “Grand Theft Auto” series.
The deal would be worth more than $1 billion, partially funded by venture capital investors.
MOVIES IN THE WORKS:
Best buds & “Good Will Hunting” collaborators Matt Damon & Ben Affleck are reuniting to star in an as-yet-untitled drama about lawyers who spend 15 years trying to overturn a murder conviction . . . David Cronenberg’s next film will be “Maps to the Stars”, which promises to do for show biz what “Dead Ringers” did for gynecology . . . “Sexual Healing”, the long-planned Marvin Gaye bio-pic, has finally been green-lighted to begin production in Germany & Hungary this MAY, with “Law & Order’s” Jesse L Martin in the lead role . . . “Brokeback Mountain” star Jake Gyllenhaal is being wooed to play Gotham City district attorney ‘Harvey Dent’, who mutates into the alter-ego ‘Two-Face’, in the next “Batman” movie, which may also feature Paul Bettany as ‘The Joker’ . . . Jude Law is set to play late Beatles manager Brian Epstein in a quirky bio-pic called “The Fifth Beatle”, which will depict his life through historical scenes, dream sequences & hallucinations . . . Country star Toby Keith’s upcoming movie is no longer called “Angel From Montgomery”, it’s now tentatively titled “Broken Bridges” . . . And after appearing in 4 films, actress Samantha Bond is refusing to reprise her role as ‘Miss Moneypenny’ in any further ‘James Bond’ movies, out of loyalty to ousted leading man Pierce Brosnan (so far, for the now-shooting “Casino Royale”, they’ve only got Daniel Craig … and a hot car).
THE SURVEY SAYS:
• What’s the best way to discipline kids? 65% of parents in a “Parenting” magazine poll say ‘time-outs’. Just 20% say ‘spank ’em’.
• A poll of European countries finds the Irish spend the most on entertainment. Irish citizens spend an average of 12% of their annual income on ‘fun’. (Fun comes in pints or quarts.)
PRODUCT PLACEMENT:
LAST YEAR there was a 30% increase in product placement on primetime network TV, a total of 106,808 occurrences entailing 191 hours. These ‘occurrences’ aren’t necessarily paid ads, and include both audio & visual mentions. The top 3 huckster shows (or, depending on how you look at it, worst 3 offenders) …
3. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” … 3,318 placements
2. “American Idol 4″ … 3,497 placements
1. “The Contender” … 7,514 placements (logos on clothing & boxing gloves contributed)
– “Real Screen” magazine
BULK MAIL:
You do it all the time – instead of walking over to a co-worker’s cubicle, you just e-mail them, right? Well Stanford University exercise expert Dr William Haskell has calculated that using e-mail for just 5 minutes per hour at work will add a pound a year to your weight! (Interestingly, a new poll finds that 19% of intra-office communications are still done by … Post-It notes!)
– “Men’s Health”
DID YOU KNOW?:
• There are 21 movie sequels scheduled to hit the bigscreen in 2006.
• Nearly 90% of the Canadian population is concentrated within 100 miles (165 km) of the US/Canada border.
• More than 900 million Valentine’s Day cards are purchased each year. Amazingly, 85% of those cards are purchased by women.
• The human body contains enough fat to make 7 bars of soap.
• Queen Elizabeth II has never been on a computer. That’s what she told Bill Gates as she awarded him an honorary knighthood.
THINK POSITIVE!
Mayo Clinic researchers say that a 3-decade study has found that optimistic people live about 19% longer than pessimists. (Yeah, but it probably won’t work for me.)
– “Christian Science Monitor”
ACCOUNTING WITH THE CONS:
A new reality show on Guatemalan TV involves 10 former gangsters living together for 2 weeks while learning the basics of accounting, customer service, human resources, sales & marketing. The 5-episode program “Challenge 10: Peace for the Ex” is intended to help ex-cons develop new careers as small business owners. It’s sponsored in part by the US Agency for International Development. (And will likely develop drug dealers with better-developed sales targets.)
– “The Guardian”
SAY WHAT?:
English-named products that – for some reason – failed to catch on in foreign countries …
• ‘Ass Glue’ … tonic made with donkey parts (China)
• ‘Blue Peter’ … canned fish (Norway)
• ‘Green Piles’ … lawn fertilizer (Japan)
• ‘Krapp’ … bathroom tissue (Sweden)
• ‘Zit’ … soft drink (Greece)
– “Maledicta”
WE’RE GETTING DUMBER:
Due to our increasing reliance on computers (ie: for spelling), more and more of us are suffering from memory loss. A recent study of people in their 20s and 30s at Hokkaido University in Japan finds more than 10% are not only losing ability to remember old information, they have trouble retaining new info. (Fascinating. Where was that again?)
– “New Scientist”
HE SAID IT:
“I’ll sleep with Paula. If it gets rid of the tension … I’ll do it.”
– “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell thinking lucid thoughts as usual.
SHE SAID IT:
“I’m really bad with the weight thing. I go up & down really quickly because I am a muscular person … people don’t realize.”
– Hefty singer Mariah Carey insisting she’s just big-boned … or some damn thing.
THE LATEST WORD:
Over its 1,500-year history, the English language has now evolved to include a total of 986,120 words. And thanks to the growing number of ethnic hybrids of the language, it continues to grow quicker than ever. According to linguists, the landmark 1 MILLIONTH WORD in English is likely to be created as soon as THIS SUMMER. (Likely some new teen term for either ‘hot’ or ‘lame’.)
– “Times of London”
THE BULL SHEET 02.09.2K6
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1936 [70] Stompin’ Tom Connors, Saint John NB, Canadian icon (“The Hockey Song”) who’s written more than 300 songs and recorded some 40 albums
1943 [63] Joe Pesci, Newark NJ, camera-shy movie actor (Academy Award-“Goodfellas”)
1945 [61] Mia Farrow (Maria de Lourdes Villers), LA CA, movie actress (“Rosemary’s Baby”)/mother of 13/Woody Allen’s ex-, Frank Sinatra’s ex-
1963 [43] Travis Tritt, Marietta GA, country singer (“Here’s A Quarter”)
1979 [27] Mena Suvari, Newport RI, movie actress (“American Beauty”) CORRECTION: Move to 2/13/06
TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Ashura”, a day of fasting marking 2 historical events: the day Noah left the ark, and the day Moses was saved from the Egyptians. Shi’a Muslims, in particular, use the day to commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad, in 680 CE.
• “Develop Alternative Vices”, a day to change your habits and improve yourself.
• “St Apollonia’s Day”, honoring the patron saint of dentists and those suffering from toothaches.
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1893 [113] Artist model ‘Mona’ slowly disrobes during a beauty contest at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, thereby creating the ‘Striptease’
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1964 [42] Some 73 million viewers tune in to watch the first appearance by The Beatles on CBS-TV’s “Ed Sullivan Show” (during a close-up shot of John Lennon, a screen caption says: “Sorry girls, he’s married.”)
TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1895 [111] ‘Volleyball’ invented by YMCA director William Morgan in Holyoke MA (the game was originally called ‘Mintonette’)
1895 [111] 1st ‘College Basketball Game’ (Minnesota State School of Agriculture trounces Hamline College ‘Porkers’ 9-3. Wow, heart-stopping action!)
1966 [40] 1st ‘NHL Expansion’ announced (to 6 American markets – LA, Minnesota, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St Louis)
TODAY’S RECORDS . . .
1996 [10] Canada’s Donovan Bailey sets world record for 50-meter dash (5.56 secs)
1997 [09] 1st NHL coach to win 1,000 games (Scotty Bowman-Detroit Red Wings)
1992 [14] World’s ‘Fastest Yodeller’ records 22 tones in single second (Thomas School in Germany)
COMING UP . . .
[Fri-Feb 26] XX Olympic Winter Games (Torino, Italy)
[Sat] Satisfied Staying Single Day
[Sun] NFL Pro Bowl (Honolulu HI)
[Sun] Chinese Lantern Festival
[Sun] World Marriage Day
[Mon] Tu B’Shevat (Jewish)
This Week Is … Consumer Protection Week
This Month Is … International Boost Self-Esteem Month
BULL’S BITS
ACTUAL TABLOID NEWS HEADLINES:
• “Woman’s Chastity Belt Sets Off Airport Alarm”
• “Girl Dies after Second Head Is Removed”
• “Hairy Dwarf Pickpocket Turns Out to Be a Monkey”
• “Priest Called in to Exorcize ‘School Spirit’!”
• “Urban Planning Nightmare: Self-Building Strip Malls!”
• “Boogeyman Comes Out of the Closet After 7-Year-Old Girl Shakes His Confidence!”
BS PHONE STARTER:
What’s the one thing that can ruin a first impression? (According to a new Harlequin Romance poll, it’s not your appearance but … ‘a lack of intellect’.)
BS BLATANT JOKE:
The only difference between a date and a job interview is that, in not many job interviews is there a chance you’ll end up naked at the end of it.
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: The majority of married women still wear THIS, which they wore on their wedding day.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: The same perfume.
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Discoveries are made by not following instructions.
