BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ This morning at 5:38 am PST actor Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) and Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announce the 86th Academy Awards nominations at a live news conference from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills CA. Why so early? It’s been a tradition for decades to accommodate early morning newspaper and media deadlines. The Oscars air Sunday, March 2nd live on ABC-TV.
– TheDailyBeast.com
★ Actor-comedian Tim Minchin (“Californication”), who wrote the music & lyrics for the London West End and Broadway stage hit “Matilda”, is working on a musical adaptation of the movie “Groundhog Day”. The 1993 film starring Bill Murray tells the story of a grumpy weatherman who gets stuck in a time loop, having to live the same day over and over again until he learns how to be a better person. Minchin has already written 2 ballads for the musical version and hopes to have the show ready for the stage within a couple of years.
– BBC Entertainment & Arts
★ Talk about guerilla advertising! As a last minute promotional ploy, the team behind the upcoming horror film “Devil’s Due” (opening Friday) created a creepily real-looking robot demon baby. Housing the eerie-looking doll to a stroller, the team then spent a day attracting unsuspecting strangers on the streets of NYC … and scaring them half to death. The subsequent YouTube video has gone viral.
NET: http://tinyurl.com/peskxk9
– Canoe.ca
★ And former “The X-Files” star Gillian Anderson has signed a deal to pen a new sci-fi book series. Along with co-writer Jeff Rovin, Anderson will develop and write a new franchise, titled “The EarthEnd Saga”. The first book, “A Vision of Fire”, follows the fortunes of a child psychiatrist who specializes in treating kids who’ve suffered trauma from natural disasters and war. Anderson says her time on “The X-Files” has given her the perfect background material for the series. The first book’s due in October.
– “Entertainment Weekly”

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “American Idol” (FOX/CTV2) – In Part 2 of the Season 13 debut, more hopefuls audition in Austin TX and San Francisco CA.
• “Arsenio Hall” (syndicated) – T-Pain (“Rappa Ternt Sanga”).
• “Conan” (TBS/CTV) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (“Give the People What They Want”).
• “Critics’ Choice Movie Awards” (CW) – The 19th annual honors for cinematic achievement as selected by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. “American Hustle” and “12 Years a Slave” lead nominees with 13 nominations apiece, followed by “Gravity” with 10.
NET: http://www.criticschoice.com
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Quinn Sullivan (“Getting There”).
• “The Fuller Picture: The Simon Fuller Story” (BBC Radio 2) – This new radio documentary about the Spice Girls creator/manager reveals that it was Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox’s idea for each member of the group to exaggerate a specific personality trait, as in ‘Baby’, ‘Posh’, ‘Scary’, and ‘Sporty’.
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Gregory Porter (“Liquid Spirit”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Icona Pop (“This Is… Icona Pop”).
• “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Drake (“Nothing Was the Same”); Neon Trees (“Picture Show”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS/NTV/Omni1) – Rosanne Cash (“The River & The Thread”).
• Sundance Film Festival (Park City UT) – The 11-day indie movie fest, now in its 30th year, gets underway tonight. Overall, 17 feature films and 11 documentaries will premiere. Films scored by musicians Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie/The Postal Service) and Adam Horovitz (Beastie Boys) are among them.
NET: http://www.sundance.org/festival

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Arctic Monkeys – They lead nominations for Britain’s “NME Awards 2014” with 8 nods, followed by Haim with 6. The hardware’s handed out February 26th in London.
• The Beatles – Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney (71) & Ringo Starr (73) will each perform at this year’s Grammy Awards January 26th when their former band wins a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. Rumor has it they may duet together … just a warning.
• Ciara – 3 months after she and Future announced their engagement, the 28-year-old R&B singer has revealed she’s pregnant with her first child. Future worked closely with Ciara on her 2013 self-titled album. Apparently very closely.
• Luke Bryan – His 18-show headline tour, “That’s My Kind of Night Tour”, launches tonight in Columbus OH. It includes a stop at NYC’s Madison Square Garden and just-announced first-ever stadium dates for Luke, in Pittsburgh PA, Philadelphia PA, and Chicago IL.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
A BS selection of movies in the making …
• “Antman” – Marvel has announced that Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas will play scientist ‘Hank Pym’ opposite Paul Rudd’s ‘Scott Lang’ in this upcoming film that’s part of ‘Phase Three’ of the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’. The character of ‘Hank Pym’ first appeared in the 1962 comic “Tales to Astonish”. So far, the script is being kept tightly under wraps.
• “Avatar 2-4” – Zoe Saldana & Sam Worthington have signed up to star in another 3 “Avatar” movies. The twosome played lovers in the James Cameron blockbuster and now they’ll be back for the back-to-back sequels. They will join Stephen Lang, who will reprise his ‘Colonel Quaritch’ role. The first sequel will reportedly hit cinemas in December 2016.
• “The Expendables 4” – Pop star Justin Bieber is being lined up as the newest addition to Sylvester Stallone’s ongoing action series. That’s according to soccer player-turned-action film actor Terry Crews, who has appeared in all 3 installments so far. The Biebs previously tested his acting chops with a role on TV crime drama “CSI”.
• “Jurassic World” – Chris Pratt (“Zero Dark Thirty”) & Bryce Dallas Howard (“Spider-Man 3”) have been confirmed as the leads for the upcoming 4th installment of the “Jurassic Park” franchise. Colin Trevorrow is directing the long-awaited reboot of the series that began in 1993. The new film is set to hit theaters in June 2015.

VIAGRA FOR WOMEN:
A new pill which is undergoing clinical trials in the UK is intended to boost female sex drive and may also have the side effect of reducing appetite. The drug is essentially a synthetic version of melatonin and acts on the brain to boost sexual desire. Women take it 15 minutes before sexual activity, and the pill is said to ‘keep the engine revving’ for more than 2 hours. British company ORLIBID, the developer of ‘female Viagra’, says the pill should be available in the UK by the end of 2015. (Will it be the ‘little pink pill’?)
– “Daily Telegraph”

THINGS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT DISNEY PARKS:
• There are tunnels under Disney World that allow employees and cast members to move between the different areas.
• None of the shops in Disney World sell gum, which is why you never see any stuck to the rides or on sidewalks.
• The 14-story “Tree of Life” in the middle of Animal Kingdom is actually an old oil rig. Engineers found that its ability to hold up against hurricane-strength winds made it ideal for the internal structure of the attraction.
• There is never a trash can more than 30 steps from where you are in a Disney park.
• There is a secret basketball court for staff in the upper third of the ‘Matterhorn’ ride at Disneyland.
• Devices called ‘Smellitizers’ can be found all over Disney parks. They emit scents in certain areas to match the surroundings.
• There’s a secret suite inside Cinderella’s Castle. It cannot be booked, and is only used for promotional giveaways.
• The brownish winding path in ‘Liberty Square’ is meant to represent raw sewage that flowed down the streets of colonial America, since indoor plumbing wasn’t yet invented.
– BuzzFeed.com

WHO NEEDS KIDS?
In a study of more than 5,000 adults, researchers at Britain’s Open University have found that couples without children are more satisfied with their relationships than couples with kids. It’s thought that’s because childless couples feel ‘more valued’ by their partner. But … the study also finds that mothers as a group are the happiest overall, even if they have troubles in their relationship. Women without children are least happy with their lives overall. Researchers also discovered that fathers are twice as likely as mothers to report a lack of sexual intimacy as the biggest problem in their relationship. (Thank goodness there’s Viagra for Women!)
– “The Guardian”

3 WAYS TO BEAT THE WINTER BLUES:
Suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)? Here are a few research-backed ways to lift yourself out of the Winter doldrums …
✓ Go Green: If you’re a city dweller, head for greener pastures. Living in a concrete jungle isn’t always emotionally beneficial for you, but studies show that those who regularly visit parks or gardens show improved mental health. Even a desk plant in the office can help.
✓ Get to the Beach: Regardless of blustery weather, studies have found that spending time near the ocean (or other large bodies of water) can enhance emotional well-being. In fact, hanging out by the seaside has proven even better for emotional health than a stroll in a park.
✓ Break a Sweat: Despite dips in temperature, exercising outdoors can boost your state-of-mind, research finds. The study concludes that outdoor exercise leads to ‘greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy, and positive engagement’. Also makes you feel warmer.
– Adapted from RelaxNews.com

SPOON THEORY:
Australian scientists at the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research & Public Health in Melbourne have done the world a great service by tracking the teaspoons in their workplace to discover that most spoons in an office environment rapidly disappear. The scientists tracked 70 teaspoons and found that 80% of them vanished within 5 months, with spoons in communal areas disappearing about twice as quickly as those in private spaces. Their oh-so-useful conclusion: An estimated 250 spoons need to be purchased annually to maintain a workable population of 70 teaspoons. (Whoa, some people have waaaay too much time on their hands!)
– Reuters.com

BS AMAZING FACT:
There are 1,000 times as many bacteria in your gut as there are stars in the Milky Way.
– “QI”

BS CHRONOMETER 01.16.14

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1959 [55] Sadé (Helen Folasade Adu), Ibadan, Nigeria, pop-jazz singer (“Soldier of Love”, “Smooth Operator”)

1974 [40] Kate Moss, Addiscomb UK, fashion model who’s appeared on over 300 magazine covers

1981 [33] Nick Valensi, NYC, rock guitarist (The Strokes-“Last Nite”, “Juicebox”)

1985 [29] Joe Flacco, Audubon NJ, NFL quarterback (Baltimore Ravens since 2008)

1985 [29] Renée Felice Smith, Long Island NY, TV actress (‘Nell Jones’ on “NCIS: Los Angeles” since 2010)

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Appreciate a Dragon Day”, celebrating fictional dragons as memorable characters. (Let’s see, there was … uh …)

• “Hot & Spicy Food International Day”, encouraging us to spice up our lives in order to add some zest to a Winter’s day. What’s the absolute hottest thing you’ve ever put in your mouth?

• “Religious Freedom Day”, when you all have the right to believe the same stuff I do.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2013 [01] Advice columnist/radio show host Pauline Phillips (aka Abigail Van Buren) dies at age 94 in Minneapolis MN (her “Dear Abby column ran for decades, attracting 110 million readers worldwide)  BS FACTOID: Her identical twin, Esther, followed her into the biz as an advice columnist as well, taking the name ‘Ann Landers’.

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1999 [15] America, Delbert McClinton, Jonny Lang, and Warren Zevon perform at the inaugural ball for pro wrestler-turned-Minnesota governor Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura (America performs – what else? – “Ventura Highway”)

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2006 [08] Africa’s 1st female elected head-of-state, Liberia’s new president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is sworn in

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2005 [09] Romanian university lecturer and novelist Adriana Iliescu gives birth at 66 to her daughter Eliza, breaking the record for ‘World’s Oldest Birth Mother’

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Fri] International Fetish Day
[Fri] Kid Inventors Day
[Sat] Screen Actors Guild Awards (Los Angeles)
[Sun] “The Following” season debut (FOX)
[Mon] Martin Luther King Day (USA)
This Week Is … International Snowmobile Safety Week
This Month Is … Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month

BULL’S BITS

WHAT WOMEN ARE READING THIS MONTH:
• “How Women Really Feel About One-Night Stands” – Cosmopolitan.com
• “How to Hem Pants” – WomansDay.com
• “How to Give a Killer Massage” – “Ladies’ Home Journal”
• “Are You & Your Partner Financially Compatible?” – RedBookMag.com
• “Grandparents Read Our Booty Call Texts” – Glamour.com

WHAT MEN ARE READING THIS MONTH:
• “The 10 Between-the-Sheets Basics You Need to Brush Up On” – AskMen.com
• “Beards Are Officially Uncool Now” – GQ.com
• “The Worst Photo for Your Dating Profile” – MensHealth.com
• “Super Bowl Dude Food Made by Super-Hot Girl Chefs” – Maxim.com
• “10 Things You Don’t Know About Women” – Esquire.com

GOOD IDEA OR BAD?
You run down the list while a caller/studio guest rates each item as simply ‘good’ or ‘bad’ …
• The new Mountain Dew-flavored Cheetos.
• Former athletes who become coaches.
• Gift registries for wedding couples.
• Making movies out of old school TV shows.
• Room fresheners you have to plug into an electrical outlet.
• Movie remakes.
• Gold-plated smartphones.
• Breakfast bowls made out of bacon.
• Old fashioned drive-in movie theaters.
• Celebrity couples with contracted nicknames, ie: ‘Kimye’, ‘Brangelina’, etc.

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What is absolutely the most stimulating aroma you can think of? (Among those topping a poll on the topic: fresh bread, bacon frying, coffee, clothes being ironed, freshly mowed grass, babies, the ocean, and Christmas trees.)

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Hey, do me a favor and check it out. Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: Over a quarter of us have embarrassingly gone out in public wearing THIS.
Answer: An article of clothing with the price tag still attached.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Nothing is ‘fun for the whole family’ unless the parents are younger than 10.