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BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
Tonight’s charity gala for the new Brittany Murphy Foundation, set up by the late actress’ widower Simon Monjack, has been cancelled without explanation (at $1,000-a-ticket, there were likely few takers) . . . Alicia Keys’ producer-boyfriend Swizz Beatz says he’s currently scoring a movie that will be ‘bigger than “Avatar”’ (yeah, that seems likely) . . . Thanks to green-screen technology, you’ll reportedly be able to surround yourself with stars and smoosh yourself into the upcoming music video for the “We Are the World” remake for Haiti relief (who do you wanna stand beside?) . . . Yet more proof Conan O’Brien is a good guy – his stage crew didn’t get any severance in the NBC-TV deal, so he’s paying them out of his own pocket (the recently well-lined one) . . . NBC-TV has renewed “Parks & Recreation” for a 3rd season despite overall lukewarm ratings, thanks to a ‘strong showing’ in the 18-49 demographic (the struggling network’s one show with more than 4 viewers) . . . Fresh off her modeling gigs with Chanel and Burberry, 19-year-old actress Emma Watson (“Harry Potter” films) has teamed up with eco-friendly clothing company People Tree for a signature Spring/Summer 2010 fashion line (for those who want to dress like ‘Hermione Granger’)  . . . “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson & MTV are being sued for $2 million by one Dwight McGhee, who claims the idea for Jackson’s talent contest, “America’s Best Dance Crew”, was stolen from him (he unsuccessfully pitched “International Breakerz League” to MTV in 2004) . . . And 49-year-old comedian Kathy Griffin (“My Life On the D-List”) is insisting that a ‘Twitter hacker’ is responsible for slamming Stephen Colbert (“The Colbert Report”) on her account, not her (BS translation: I was really drunk).

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – The Bravery (“Stir the Blood”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – The Raveonettes (“In & Out of Control”).
• “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/A Channel) – Hot Chip (“One Life Stand”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS) – Robin Thicke (“Sex Therapy”).
• “Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam 2010” (VH1) – Justin Bieber, Keri Hilson, Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, and Timbaland.
• “Surviving Survivor” (CBS) – The greatest moments in show history, featuring new interviews with favorite castaways. A set-up for the upcoming “Heroes vs Villains” series (February 11th).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Black Eyed Peas – Tonight they begin their first full-scale tour of the US & Canada in nearly 4 years. The North American leg of “The END World Tour 2010” kicks off in Atlanta.
• Fall Out Boy – Bassist Pete Wentz writes on Twitter that he ‘can’t imagine playing in FOB again’, adding something would have to change in his head or his heart … not his wallet. Meantime, frontman Patrick Stump has also declared he’s no longer in the band.
• Garbage – Shirley Manson has hinted that her old band will release new material soon, implying that they’ve been in the studio together recently.
• Jennifer Hudson – She’s currently writing & recording the followup to her self-titled 2008 album at a studio in Los Angeles with the help of John Legend.
• Lady Gaga – She’s looking to buy the elaborate piano she played with Elton John to open the “Grammy Awards” on Sunday. The unique instrument, designed by Chinese-Canadian artist Terence Koh, is said to be valued at close to a half-million dollars.
• Ne-Yo – He’s donating proceeds from his new single “Heroes” to the nonprofit organization ‘Respect!’, which aims to end abuse and promote respect in relationships.
• Rolling Stones – Johnny Depp is set to direct a documentary about Keith Richards. (Sort of like “Pirates Of the Carribean”).

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
A selection of movies in the making …
• “Avatar 2” – 20th Century Fox parent company News Corp is in very early talks with director James Cameron about a possible sequel. Cameron apparently ‘has ideas’ for one but his projects often taking a long time to come to fruition. His films also tend to go over-budget. But given the success of “Avatar” ($2.05 billion and counting), financing shouldn’t be a problem.
• “Black Swan” – 28-year-old actress Natalie Portman says she was ‘terrified’ about having to kiss 26-year-old co-star Mila Kunis in this upcoming thriller. The story is set in the highly competitive world of ballet and follows Portman’s veteran ballerina character who finds herself locked in direct competition with a mysterious rival dancer. The film is due out later this year.
• “Change of Heart” – Ben Stiller is signed to star in this comedy about a woman struggling to have a baby via artificial insemination who finally decides to hook up with her last boyfriend in order to get pregnant. The twist is … she’s now committed to a same-sex relationship with another woman. The project is in development for release in 2011.
• “Norm Of the North” – This 3-D animated film tells the story of a polar bear and his 3 Arctic buddies who are forced to flee once their icy home begins melting and breaking apart. Landing in NYC, ‘Norm’ begins life anew as a performing corporate mascot, only to discover his new employers are directly responsible for the destruction of his habitat. The film’s planned for 2012.
• “Take This Waltz” – Michelle Williams (Heath Ledger’s ex-) & Seth Rogen (in a rare non-comedy) are lined up to star in this Sarah Polley drama that centers on a young woman who struggles with her infidelities and the budding realization that she may be addicted to the honeymoon period of relationships. The film’s in development with production date yet to be set.

HOW TO PICK WINNERS:
How’s this for an investment strategy? Invest in companies with names that are very easy to pronounce. This probably doesn’t strike you as a great idea but, if recent research is to be believed, it just might just be brilliant. Psychologists have determined that shares in companies with easy-to-pronounce names do indeed significantly outperform those with hard-to-pronounce names. (How about something real simple like … General Motors?)
– “Boston Globe”

NOSE ON YOUR FACE:
After months of planning, weeks of compiling research, crunching numbers, and analyzing data, finally, a University of Rochester study published in this month’s “Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology” has revealed that … people are happier on weekends. (The same research team has determined that it’s brighter out when the sun shines and drinking sloe gin leads to the loss of underwear.)
– Sacbee.com

NEW GLASSWEAR:
Nanopool, a German-owned company based in Turkey, has developed a new liquid glass spray that produces a water-resistant coating about 100 nanometers (15-30 molecules) thick. On this nanoscale the glass is highly flexible and breathable. The spray cannot be seen by the naked eye, which means it could be used to treat clothing and other materials to make them stain-resistant. The project manager suggests you’ll be able to pour a bottle of wine over an expensive silk shirt treated with the stuff and the wine will roll right off. (But if you toss your shirt on the floor, it shatters.)
– PhysOrg.com

HAVE ANOTHER BANANA:
Couples who eat lots of fruit feel friskier in the bedroom. A survey by Cape Fruit Company finds that both men and women are more interested in sex after eating strawberries, bananas, or grapes. Of those polled, 54% say they feel sexier when they eat more fruit than usual, and 33% say they have twice as much sex as a result. (Of course the fruit company has nothing at all to gain from this ‘scientific’ study.)
– “NY Post”

FOR THE RECORD:
This week art gallery owner Fiona Exon of Eden Valley UK was preparing scrambled eggs for breakfast and when she started cracking eggs she found that all 6 in the carton had double-yolks. Odds of this happening? One-tenth-of-1% or … 1-in-a-trillion.
– DailyMail.co.uk

DID YOU KNOW?
• There is no such thing as ‘double-jointedness’. People who are extremely flexible actually have a condition called ‘hypermobility’ which is simply a fancy name for genetic flexibility.
• Contrary to popular belief, red wine & white wine do not come from red & white grapes respectively. Some white wine is made with red grapes – zinfandel, for example. White wines are made from grape pulp only. The color in wine comes from the inclusion of the grape skins.
– Listverse.com

BS CHRONOMETER 02.04.10

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TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1948 [62] Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier), Detroit MI, classic rocker (“School’s Out”, “Eighteen”)/syndicated radio personality (“Nights With Alice Cooper”)

1962 [48] Clint Black, Long Branch NJ, country singer (“When I Said I Do”, “The Shoes You’re Wearing”)

1963 [47] Noodles (Kevin Wasserman), LA CA, rock guitarist/vocalist (The Offspring-“You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”, “Hit That”)

1969 [41] Duncan Coutts, St Catharines ON, rock bassist (Our Lady Peace-“Somewhere Out There”, “Clumsy”)

1975 [35] Natalie Imbruglia, Sydney, Australia, pop singer (“Torn”)/former Mrs Daniel Johns (Silverchair) 2003-08

1975 [35] Rick Burch, Mesa AZ, rock bassist (Jimmy Eat World-“Pain”, “The Middle”)

1977 [33] Gavin DeGraw, South Fallsburg NY, pop singer (“In Love With a Girl”, “I Don’t Want to Be”)

1982 [28] Kimberly Wyatt, Warrensburg MO, pop singer/dancer (Pussycat Dolls-“When I Grow Up”, “Don’t Cha”)

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Halfway Point of Winter” as 45 days of the season have passed and the equivalent remain before the beginning of Spring. (Did we hear a giant sigh?)

• “UN Torture Abolition Day”. In observance, shouldn’t “Two & a Half Men” be cancelled?

• “World Cancer Day”, an annual observation to encourage the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. It is led by the International Union Against Cancer, a global consortium of more than 280 cancer-fighting organizations in over 90 countries.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2004 [06] Online social networking site Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2008 [02] NASA transmits The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” in the direction of the star Polaris, 431 light years from Earth, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song’s recording, the 45th anniversary of the Deep Space Network, and the 50th anniversary of NASA

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1920 [90] 1st ‘Snickers’ candy bars go on sale (according to trade magazine, “Automatic Merchandiser”, Snickers is the most popular snack sold in vending machines worldwide)

1924 [86] Canada’s 1st Winter Olympic gold medal as Toronto Granite Club hockey team wins at the 1st Winter Games in Chamonix, France

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1982 [28] ‘Indoor Distance Record for a Paper Airplane’ set at 154 ft or 47 m (Tacoma WA)

COMING UP . . .
[Fri] “Dear John”; “From Paris With Love” open in movie theaters
[Fri] Wear Red Day
[Fri] World Nutella Day
[Sun] Super Bowl XLIV (Miami)
[Sun] Wave All Your Fingers At Your Neighbor’s Day
This Week Is … Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week
This Month Is … Bake for Family Fun Month

BULL’S BITS

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BENEFITS OF BEING FEMALE:
• We can scare male bosses with mysterious ‘female problems’.
• We can be groupies. Male groupies are stalkers.
• We can cry and get out of speeding fines.
• Taxis stop for us.
• If we marry someone 20 years younger, we’re aware that we look like an idiot.
• New lipstick gives us a whole new lease on life.
• We don’t look like a frog in a blender when we dance.
• Free drinks. Free dinners. Free movies.

BS NAME GENERATION:
There’s a gazillion ‘name generators’ online, but it’s more fun to do the calculations ‘manually’. That way your listeners can play along. For instance …
• Your Football Wide Receiver Name = Your father’s 1st name + ‘ette’ or ‘elle’ (depending which sounds better) + any common boy’s name + ‘son’.
• Your Blues Singer Name = Your mood during the holiday season (be honest) + any US president’s last name.
• Your Adult Film Star Name = The name of your first pet + the name of the first street you ever lived on.
• Your Punk Rock Band = A really goofy adjective (be creative) + any plural noun.
• Your Prison Bitch Name = A personality trait you admire + your mother’s 2nd name.

BS WEB GOODIE:
The now-beta-testing website Failin is designed to be a ‘social experiment in brutal honesty’. You create a profile, link it to Facebook or Twitter, then invite others to comment and/or provide constructive criticism (anonymously). Finally you’re able to answer the question, What do people really think of me?
NET: http://failin.gs

BS WHYZITS:
• Whyzit when you kill a bug, 10 more come to the funeral?
• Whyzit you ‘fill in’ a form by ‘filling it out’ and an alarm clock ‘goes off’ by ‘going on’?
• Whyzit the colder the X-ray table, the more of your naked flesh is required on it?
• Whyzit we wait until a pig is dead to ‘cure’ it?
• Whyzit the only time the world beats a path to your door is when you’re in the bathroom?
• Whyzit when you DO give a rat’s ass, nobody really appreciates that either?

BS PHONE STARTER:
What are the most annoying clichés used by sports announcers?

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
• It’s estimated that 4% of all women do not wear this. What?
a. Perfume
b. Deodorant
c. Underwear [CORRECT]

• Who was the Roman god of ‘carnal love’?
a. Adonis.
b. Venus.
c. Cupid. [CORRECT. He was the son of goddess Venus and god Mercury.]

BS RANDOM JOKE:
We’re planning to be spontaneous tomorrow …

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: The average for a woman is 2. The average WHAT?
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Number of times she changes her outfit before leaving home.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
An idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it.