BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
Entrepreneurs Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen are branching out into menswear with the new label ‘The Row’, taking its inspiration from London’s famous tailoring district Savile Row (are well-off middle-aged guys going to wear stuff from the Olsen twins?) . . . Actor Al Pacino is set to become the world’s shoutiest-ever “King Lear” as he’s signed up to make a new bigscreen adaptation of the Shakespeare classic his next movie (shooting is scheduled to start in Europe later this year) . . . While celebrating Facebook’s 5th anniversary this week, 24-year-old founder Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to continue to evolve the site and make it as simple as possible for its 150 million users to communicate with their social networks (yeah, thanks for clogging up our inboxes with ‘friend requests’) . . . “Knocked Up” writer-director-producer Judd Apatow has been commissioned to produce a short film as a tribute to comedy at this year’s “Academy Awards” February 22nd (the audience is gonna be red-faced by the time he’s done with them) . . . The TV Acedemy has announced the “Emmy Awards” are expanding the number of nominees that will be up for several key awards, including ‘Outstanding Comedy’ & ‘Outstanding Drama’ (let’s drag it out into a 4-hour show!) . . . “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke has been tossed from the sequel, “New Moon”, so she’ll milk the franchise in another way with the publication of “Twilight: Director’s Notebook” on March 17th (just before the DVD release) . . . Supposedly retired movie actor Joaquin Phoenix has now personally weighed in on the subject of his reportedly bogus hip hop career, insisting it truly is for real (is Promises Rehab too full to admit him or what’s the problem?) . . . And famous person Victoria Beckham, more noted for pouting than waxing cerebral, has made the great decision to spill to “Vanity Fair” magazine that – she has a gay man inside her (too many punchlines, not enough space!).

WEEKEND SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “BAFTA Awards” – Sunday the annual British Academy of Film & Television Arts honors are handed out at London’s Royal Opera House. “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” lead movie nominations with 11 apiece.
NET: http://www.bafta.org
• “Grammy Awards” (CBS/Global) – Sunday the 51st music awards from the Recording Academy are handed out at LA’s Staples Center. Performers include Carrie Underwood, Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson, Jay-Z, Jonas Bros, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Kenny Chesney, Lil Wayne, Paul McCartney w/Dave Grohl, Radiohead, Rihanna, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, and U2.
NET: http://www.grammy.com
• “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” (CBS) – Tonight Franz Ferdinand promote their new album “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand“.
• “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” (NBC/A Channel) – Tonight Death Cab For Cutie performs.
• “MusiCares Person Of the Year” – Tonight in LA Neil Diamond is saluted by the likes of Adele, Coldplay, Faith Hill, Foo Fighters, Jennifer Hudson, Jonas Bros, Jimmy Kimmel, Josh Groban, Kid Rock & Tim McGraw. MusiCares offers assistance to musicians in times of need.
• “NASCAR Bud Shoot Out” (FOX) – Saturday country star Dierks Bentley promotes his new album “Feel That Fire” by performing a pre-race concert at the Daytona International Speedway.
• “Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Awards” – Tonight Brenda Lee, Dean Martin, the Four Tops, and Gene Autry are among those honored with a career achievement salute in this annual pre-Grammy ceremony. Technical Grammy Awards are also handed out.
• “Saturday Night Live” (NBC/Global) – Actor Bradley Cooper (“He’s Just Not That Into You”) hosts; TV On the Radio is the musical guest.
• “Writers Guild Awards” – Saturday the 61st annual honors for show biz scribes are handed out in LA & NYC. Screenwriting nominees include Joel & Ethan Coen (“Burn After Reading”) and Woody Allen (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”). Adapted screenplay nominees include “The Dark Knight” and “Slumdog Millionaire”.
NET: http://www.wga.org

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Bruce Springsteen – He’s ticked with Ticketmaster for redirecting customers attempting to buy his concert tickets to the company’s secondary ticketing site, TicketsNow (basically a legalized scalping site). The Boss says this was occurring when seats remained available at face value.
• Coldplay – The lawyer representing Joe Satriani is sending teams of process servers to the “Grammy Awards” to attempt to personally hand the band a plagiarism lawsuit. Satriani is the obscure musician who claims the band ripped off his material for their hit “Viva La Vida”.
• Kiss – Paul Stanley has confirmed he & Gene Simmons (and their hired guns) are headed into the studio to grind out their 42nd album, for release this Fall. As a throwback to the old days, they’re recording it in analog, not digital.
• Shakira – She just presided over the dedication of a $6-million new school erected by her Pies Descalzos (pee-AYES days-CAL-zoes) foundation in her hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia. It’s the 5th school the foundation has built.
• Van Halen – Eddie Van Halen says he hopes to soon release new music with the current incarnation of his legendary band.

TODAY’S MOVIE OPENINGS:
• “Coraline” ( PG Animated Fantasy ): A secret door in her family’s new house offers a passageway to an unusual parallel world for a young girl named ‘Coraline’ (voice of Dakota Fanning). Filmed in 3-D stop-motion animation by director Henry Selick (“A Nightmare Before Christmas”). Co-stars the voices of Teri Hatcher & John Hodgman.
NET: http://coraline.com
• “Fanboys” ( PG-13 Crime Comedy ): 4 guys and their gal-pal plan a cross-country trip to steal a print of “Star Wars – Episode I” from Skywalker Ranch so their dying friend can see it before its world premiere. Stars Dan Fogler (“Kung Fu Panda “), Jay Baruchel (“Knocked Up”) & Kristen Bell (“Gossip Girl”).
NET: http://www.fanboys-themovie.com
• “He’s Just Not That Into You” ( PG-13 Comedy ): Based on the same-titled best-selling book of the late ‘90s, the film follows the romantic woes of an interconnected group of Baltimore singles and marrieds. Drew Barrymore produces and stars; the ensemble cast includes Ben Affleck, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson & oodles more.
NET: http://www.hesjustnotthatintoyoumovie.com
• “The Pink Panther 2“ ( PG Comedy ): Steve Martin returns as ‘Inspector Jacques Clouseau’ who teams with a squad of international detectives to stop a globe-trotting thief that specializes in stealing historical artifacts. The problem is, the inspector’s new cohorts are just as bumbling as he is. Co-stars Jean Reno, John Cleese, Andy Garcia & Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai.
NET: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepinkpanther2
• “Push” ( PG-13 Sci-Fi Thriller ): Camilla Belle, Dakota Fanning & Chris Evans star in this story of a group of young people with special telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities who are pursued by a clandestine US government agency that wants ‘the gifted ones’ back in the fold. Shot entirely on location in Hong Kong.
NET: http://www.push-themovie.com

20-CARAT CLUMPS:
The Suwa sewage treatment plant in central Japan recently recorded 1,890 grams of gold per tonne of incinerated sludge. That makes it a vastly more productive gold producer than Japan’s Hishikari gold mine, which usually averages 20-to-40 grams of precious metals per tonne of ore. Japan expects to earn about 15 million yen from the sewage this year. The plant sits next to numerous machining companies and metal plating facilities, which is likely the reason behind the high concentration of gold found in sewage water in the area. (Now there’s a job even worse than yours … nugget pickin’.)
– Reuters

PORTIONS PRERECORDED:
According to Hank Neuberger, the producer who supervises broadcast audio for the “Grammy Awards”, Super Bowl performances are ALL prerecorded. Only Bruce Springsteen’s vocals were live during the E Street Band’s knockout halftime performance. Neuberger contends there’s no way to set up a full band in 5 minutes with microphones, get all the settings right, and expect to get quality sound. That’s why Super Bowl shows have been prerecorded for years with virtually all the acts. (Now can we get off Jennifer Hudson’s back?)
– MusicRadar.com

INSANITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION:
As hard as it might be to wait, try to hang on just a little bit longer before you spend that $100,000 in order to clone your pet dog. A biotech firm in South Korea has created a new method of cloning animals which they claim will bring down the cost within 3 years … to about $50,000. (Or you could go to your local animal shelter and claim one of the 7 bazillion strays for a couple of bucks.)
– “Curious Times”

BS AMAZING FACTS:
• Charities have suffered over the past year but not on account of NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. Stats show that he was the most charitable living American in 2008, personally giving away nearly $240 million.
– “TIME Magazine”
• The number of adult websites now totals around 4.2 million. That adds up to around 370 million individual pages. On a daily basis, there are about 68 million search requests for X-rated material, and 2.5 billion related spam emails are delivered. 20% of men admit to viewing adult sites while at work and – perhaps surprisingly – 13% of women admit the same.
– “The List Universe”

BS CHRONOMETER 02.06.09