BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Robert Downey Jr has been named Hollywood’s highest paid actor for the 2nd year running. The “Iron Man” and “Avengers” star has topped the annual “Forbes” magazine rich list with estimated earnings of $75 million over the past year. Action man Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson comes in 2nd ($52 million) thanks to “GI Joe: Retaliation” and the “Fast & Furious” franchise, while Bradley Cooper is 3rd ($46 million). Leonardo DiCaprio ($39 million) and “Thor” star Chris Hemsworth ($37 million) round out the top 5. (How come the highest-paid actress earns less than half as much?)
– WENN.com
★ Just as Netflix reports 50 million members and more than double the profit of last year’s 2nd quarter, it’s also announced a new innovation. It’s now testing something called ‘privacy mode’. With the new feature enabled, Netflix won’t keep track of the guilty pleasures you watch. So, for instance, you could screen Dana Carvey’s cheesy “The Master of Disguise” without fear of having future recommendations skewed, or other users on the account seeing what you’ve done. (In many cases, that involves like 47 people sharing the same account and password. Shhhhh! Don’t tell.)
– GigaOm.com
★ A Saginaw, Michigan sheriff is convinced the Netflix show “Orange Is the New Black” has made orange jumpsuits so fashionable he’s switching all 500-odd inmates at the Saginaw County Jail to old-school black-and-white striped uniforms by the end of the year. The sheriff contends people now think it’s cool to dress like an inmate, wearing all-orange jumpsuits in public. As real cons do community service outdoors at times, the sheriff doesn’t want there to be any confusion about who is an inmate and who is just wearing orange as a fad. Word has it the inmates aren’t pleased. (They can blame ‘Piper’ and ‘Alex’ for looking so good onscreen.)
– “Daily Mail”
★ FX network has announced the creation of “Simpsons World”, a haven for all fans of ‘Bart Simpson’ and family. The multi-platform app, arriving in late October, not only allows users to watch every episode of the series to date, but also offers up trivia, character biographies, and an episode guide with actual scripts embedded into each summary. Oh, but there’s a hitch … in order to use the app, you must be an FX subscriber. FX celebrates its acquisition of syndication rights to the series with a 12-day marathon of all 552 episodes beginning August 21st. (Yikes. Is this covered in the Geneva Conventions?)
– TheWrap.com
★ And actress Cameron Diaz walked out on a radio interview in Australia this week after a DJ made comments about her pal Drew Barrymore’s past drug problems. Diaz & Jason Siegal were promoting their new movie “Sex Tape” on Sydney’s KIIS 106-5 when “Kyle & Jackie O Show” co-host Kyle Sandilands brought up Barrymore. That prompted an angry outburst from Diaz, who moments later cut short the interview. Jackie O then commented: “Good one Kyle… The two things that would have got her off-side, you went there.” (Let that be a lesson: Be nice.)
– Newsmax.com

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “America’s Got Talent” (NBC/CityTV) – The top 48 acts are announced.
• “Conan” (TBS/CTV) – Boy & Bear (“Harlequin Dream”).
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Luke Bryan (“Crash My Party”). Rerun.
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Common (“Nobody’s Smiling”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – LP (“Into the Wild”). Rerun.
• “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV2) – G-Eazy (“The Endless Summer”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS/Omni1) – Brody Dalle (“Diploid Love”).
• “So You Think You Can Dance” (FOX/CTV2) – The top 16 finalists perform; guest judge Misty Copeland; Lucy Hale performs (“Lie a Little Better”).
• “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Weezer performs “Back To the Shack” (“Everything Will Be Alright In the End”, out September 30th).
• “The View” (ABC/CTV) – Colbie Caillat (“Gypsy Heart”).
• “Wendy Williams” (syndicated) – Master P (“Boss Of All Bosses”).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Avicii – The Swedish EDM star is camped out in the Hollywood Hills working on the follow-up to his  2013 album “True”. Collaborators on the new effort include Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Chris Martin (Coldplay), Jon Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi), and Serj Tankian (System Of a Down).
• Jason Aldean – The just-released new single “Burnin’ It Down” will be on his as-yet-untitled upcoming 6th studio album, presumably due out later this year.
• Maroon 5 – After wedding on the weekend, frontman Adam Levine and model-wife Behati Prinsloo are honeymooning in South Africa. They’ll also reportedly stage a 2nd more intimate wedding for family in the new bride’s homeland of  Namibia.
• One Direction – They’ve announced a new concert film. “One Direction: Where We Are” was filmed in Milan, Italy during their most recent tour. It will receive more than 10,000 screenings in over 50 countries and territories this October.
• Pharrell Williams – He’s among a slew of acts announced for the upcoming 8th annual iTunes Festival in London. The month-long free concert series in September also features Beck, David Guetta, Kasabian, Kylie Minogue, and Sam Smith.
• Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger was among those attending this week’s “Get On Up” film premiere at the Apollo Theater in NYC. The bio-film about soul singing legend James Brown is set for an August 1st release date.
• Toby Keith – The 53-year-old country star, who’s been known to hoist a “Red Solo Cup”, says he has a hit of ‘Wild Shot’ (smoke agave cactus mezcal) before each ‘meet and greet’ with fans. He markets the drink across the USA and always keeps some in the freezer.

FROM THE BS POLL VAULT:
A statistical look at who we are and the things we do …
• 75% of married women wish their husbands would hold hands more often.
• 60% of us have never used an old-school ‘rotary phone’.
• 50% of adults say they’ve managed to go 7 days or more without cash.
• 45% of couples share time together in the bathroom every day.
• 30% of women say the wrong underwear can ruin their day.
• 11% of us admit to stealing a co-worker’s lunch at least once.

BIO-PACKED:
Tomorrow Machine’s new ‘This Too Shall Pass’ food packaging decays along with its contents. The Swedish design studio believes that food containers should survive only as long as their contents. To that end it has developed …
✓ A gelatinous packet molded from agar and water that’s intended to contain liquids like cream, smoothies, or fresh juice.
✓ A triangular-shaped package that’s made from beeswax to house dry goods such as rice or grain. It must be peeled like a fruit in order to access whatever is inside.
✓ An iridescent globe built out of wax-coated, caramelized sugar. A crack is all it takes to release the water-soluble package’s cargo.
(The sooner we say goodbye to rigid plastic clamshell packaging the better, right?)
– TheVerge.com

EYE IN THE SKY:
Would you be open to having drone photography at your wedding? Inspired by the use of drones for real estate photos, a photography studio in Iowa is now offering the drone camera option for wedding shoots. It can capture birds-eye shots of the wedding party in a way that no other camera (or photographer standing on a ladder) possibly could. Shots need to be set up far ahead of time, and a whole team of pros is needed to get the job done. It’s not cheap: A drone package that entails about 30 minutes’ worth of photography costs circa $400. (Future headline: “Drone Flame-out Wreaks Wedding Havoc, Setting Bridal Gown Afire”)
– HuffingtonPost.com

BS CUTTING-EDGE VOCAB:
New terms leaking into our lingo …
• ‘Dogochondriac’  [dog + hypochondriac] – A person who is excessively preoccupied by their dog’s health, or who tends to imagine ailments that the dog does not actually have.
• ‘Fakecation’ – Real vacationing can be expensive, but not a fake vacation. ‘Fakecationing’ is all about putting yourself wherever you want to be through technology. All you need is a phone to take pics … and some fingers (masquerading as knees).
NET: http://tinyurl.com/pe92afv
• ‘MAMIL’ [middle-aged man in Lycra] – A man who is a devotee of cycling or some other sport that requires or encourages the wearing of Lycra.
• ‘Summer Melt’ – College-bound students who renege on their commitment to a particular school, especially during the time between high school graduation and the start of classes.
First-generation college students and those from low-income families are most likely.

STONER CHAT:
‘Chatroulette’ became a phenomenon shortly after it debuted, but for many the novelty of chatting with a randomly accessed stranger quickly wore off. A similar type of site is now trying to fix that by taking a slightly different approach, making sure that its users have something in common … they’re all high. The site is called ‘PuffPuffChat’, and it asks users to rank themselves on a 10-point scale of how high they are before entering into a text or video chat with someone at a similar level. The site launched back in May and has already hosted tens-of-thousands of chats. (It’s where you go to toke ‘n talk!)
NET: http://www.puffpuffchat.com
– DailyDot.com

TOP REGRETS PEOPLE REVEAL ON THEIR DEATHBEDS:
An informal survey of the dying wishes of patients in palliative care …
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
– DailyHealthPost.com

BS AMAZING FACTS:
• The largest millipede in Tanzania is called the ‘wandering leg sausage’.
– “Quite Interesting”
• Nowhere in the “Humpty Dumpty” nursery rhyme does it say that ‘Humpty’ is an egg.
– eBaumsWorld.com

BS CHRONOMETER 07.23.14

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1961 [53] Woody Harrelson, Midland TX, movie actor (“Hunger Games” films, “No Country For Old Men”)/TV actor (“True Detective” 2014, “Cheers” 1985-93)

1965 [49] Slash (Saul Hudson), London UK, rock guitarist (ex-Velvet Revolver-“Slither”, ex-Guns N’ Roses-“Sweet Child O’ Mine”)

1971 [43] Alison Krauss, Decatur IL, country/bluegrass musician-singer-songwriter-producer (“Paper Airplane”, w/Robert Plant-“Raising Sand”)/27 Grammy Awards, more than any other female artist

1976 [38] Jonathan Gallant, Mississauga ON, rock bassist (Billy Talent-“Stand Up & Run”, “Rusted From the Rain”)

1980 [34] Michelle Williams, Rockford IL, R&B/dance music singer (“The Greatest”, “We Break the Dawn”)/pop singer (Destiny’s Child-“Say My Name”, Bills Bills Bills”)

1982 [32] Paul Wesley (Wasilewski), New Brunswick NJ, TV actor (‘Stefan Salvatore/Silas’ on “The Vampire Diaries” since 2009)

1989 [25] Daniel Radcliffe, London UK, movie actor (“Harry Potter” films)/Broadway actor (“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, “Equus”)

1990 [24] Neil Perry, Ridgeland MS, country music drummer (The Band Perry -“Better Dig Two”, “If I Die Young”)

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Gorgeous Grandma Day”, honoring every kid’s favorite spoiler. (Kind of a creepy name when you think about it.)

• “Hot Enough For Ya? Day”, when it should be legal to assault anyone who asks you that overused, plain-as-the-end-of-your-sweat-dripping-nose question.

• “Vanilla Ice Cream Day”, celebrating the favorite ice cream flavor of the masses … by far.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2007 [07] Comedian Drew Carey is signed to replace retiring game show legend Bob Barker on CBS-TV’s “The Price is Right”

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2011 [03] British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse dies of alcohol poisoning (her album “Back to Black” subsequently becomes the UK’s best-selling album of the 21st century)

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1982 [32] Introduction of ‘Diet Coke’ (the sensible accompaniment to your double whopper & fries)

TODAY’S RECORDS . . .
2000 [14] Tiger Woods wins the “British Open” to become the youngest golfer (24) to win a career ‘Grand Slam’ of golf (The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open, and British Open)

2007 [07] Automaker Honda produces its 6 millionth ‘Civic’ car in North America

COMING UP . . .
[Thurs] Tequila Day
[Thurs] Comic-Con International begins (San Diego CA)
[Thurs] Cousins Day
[Fri] “The Fluffy Movie”; “Hercules”; “Lucy” open in movie theaters
[Fri] Talk In an Elevator Day
[Sat] Day Of the Cowboy
[Sun] Aunties Day
This Week Is … Restless Leg Syndrome Education & Awareness Week
This Month Is … Hot Dog Month

BULL’S BITS

BS  THINGS ABOUT SUMMER THAT ACTUALLY SUCK:
✗ Boob sweat/butt sweat/total cavity sweat..
✗ Sunscreen in your eyes/bug spray in your eyes/sweat in your eyes.
✗ Sand in your crotch.
✗ Waves ripping your bikini top/trunks off.
✗ Mosquitoes/ants/bees/wasps.
✗ People stepping on your toes when you’re wearing sandals.
✗ Cheap flip-flops that fall apart.
✗ Weirdly-shaped sunburn patterns/weird marks on your skin from a hammock.
✗ Melted ice cream balls falling off your cone.
✗ Burnt burgers/burnt hot dogs/burnt ribs/burnt steaks.
✗ Getting caught in a freak thunderstorm.
✗ Sunburn/sun poisoning/sunstroke.
✗ Out-of-school children running around like little terrors.
✗ Having to work when it’s clearly a beach day.
(Is it September yet?)
– Sourced from TheFrisky.com

BS RANDOM JOKE:
When your guy says, “Would you be mad if I decided to…”, it means he already did it and doesn’t know how to hide it.

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What was the worst part of your worst job?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: If you’re an adult, odds are 50/50 that you have one of THESE in your bedroom.
Answer: A nightlight.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Men are like roses. Watch out for the pricks.