Wednesday, May 25, 2022 — Edition: #7237

Bully For You!

 

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Ricky Gervais is in hot water again, this time over a series of perceived anti-trans jokes featured in his just-released Netflix special “Supernature.” “The Office” creator’s name was trending on Twitter as the LGBTQ community urged viewers to boycott the special — with some vowing to cancel their Netflix subscriptions. Throughout the special, Gervais also bemoans “cancel culture” for comedians and actors like Louis C.K., Liam Neeson and Hart — all of whom still have lucrative showbusiness careers. Netflix drew controversy last year after releasing Chappelle’s standup special “The Closer,” which was filled with transphobic material and inspired an employee a walkout. Gervais has joked in the past that his ultimate goal is to get “canceled”.
-NYPost, Variety
★ Will Smith says he’ll always stand by his family. Season 4 of Netflix’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” premiered on Friday, with Smith visiting the couch in the second episode. The interview is full of tidbits from the actor’s life and career, and while Letterman’s interview with the 53-year-old took place before Smith stunned the world in March by slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars, one comment he made looks very prescient, in light of that occurrence. In his conversation with Letterman, Smith spoke about his parents’ contentious relationship, saying, “I’ve always thought of myself as a coward. When I was 9 years old, I saw my father beat up my mother, and I didn’t do anything. And that just left a traumatic impression of myself as a coward.”
-NYPost
★ “America’s Got Talent” judge Howie Mandel’s obsessive-compulsive disorder has been the butt of jokes on the show, but it is a very real daily struggle for him. In a new interview, Mandel called OCD “debilitating”, explaining that some OCD patients create dangerous thoughts that may not be based in fact but can lead to rituals that “inhibit every aspect” of life. He said one of his symptoms is “obtrusive thoughts” that lead to obsessions where “You can’t show up. You can’t be productive. It’s mind-boggling.” Obsessive hand-washing has even led to him being late to events, Mandel said. He has joined NOCD, a website launched to help OCD patients. He hopes raising awareness will help inspire others to speak out about mental health struggles.
-PopCulture
★ Dame Angela Lansbury is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement gong at the Tony Awards. The 96-year-old actress – who has won 5 Tonys — will be honored at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on June 12. A statement says “Angela Lansbury’s contributions to the stage are insurmountable, from her groundbreaking role in “Mame”, to her iconic performances in “Deuce” and “Sweeney Todd”, and most recently, in the revival of ‘A Little Night Music,’ Ms. Lansbury has given us a lifetime of unforgettable performances.” Lansbury is perhaps best-known for playing ‘Jessica Fletcher’ in “Murder, She Wrote”, which is still the longest-running TV detective drama of all time.
-Bang

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): Seth MacFarlane, Jay Ellis, Def Leppard
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Jon Hamm
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Michael Che, James Stavridis
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): Jennifer Connelly, Chloe Fineman, Danielle Ponder, Ulf Mickael Wahlgren
• “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS/CTV): Miles Teller, Amanda Peet
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Joy Behar, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos
• “The Talk” (CBS): Jay Pharoah
• “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC/CTV): Camilla Luddington, Gaten Matarazzo
• “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (NBC/CTV): Bruno Mars
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Check local listings): Nick Jonas, Robert Herjavec
• “The Drew Barrymore Show” (Check local listings): Cameron Diaz (R)
• “The Wendy Williams Show” (Check local listings): Brittney Levine, guest host Sherri Shepherd
• “The Great American Tag Sale With Martha Stewart” (ABC): Martha is ready to part ways with pieces from her vast collection of furniture, art and housewares.
• “Survivor” (CBS): Season 42 finale. After a gruelling 26 days, the castaways navigate their way to the final 3, and one is crowned the sole survivor.
• “Chicago Fire” (NBC): Season 10 finale. The big wedding day arrives and Firehouse 51 welcomes Casey back to celebrate the joyous occasion; Emma’s plans to replace Violet come to a shocking end. (Also season finales tonight for “Chicago Med” and “Chicago PD”)
• “MasterChef” (Fox): Season 20 premiere. Former contestants return; chefs compete in head-to-head audition battles.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Adele – is featured in People’s 2022 list of “The 100 Most Influential People”. Also in the “icons” category: Mary J. Blige, and album of the year Grammy award winner Jon Batiste. In the innovators section are Zendaya, Miranda Lambert and Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast)
• Billie Eilish – Global Citizen has launched its 2022 campaign by releasing an open letter signed by numerous entertainers, including Eilish, Coldplay, Charlie Puth, and 5 Seconds of Summer. The letter demands leaders, businesses, and citizens break systematic barriers that keep people in poverty, take climate action, and empower adolescent girls. Other signees include Adam Lambert, Alessia Cara, Bill Nye, Billy Porter, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, Hugh Jackman and Ricky Martin.
• Elton John — Disney+ paid an estimated $30 million for rights to the official documentary covering his career and final concerts. With the working title “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and the Years That Made His Legend”, it’ll feature unseen concert footage from the past 50 years, plus “handwritten journals and present-day footage of him and his family.”
• David Bowie – The official trailer has dropped for “Moonage Daydream”, described as “neither documentary nor biography, but an immersive cinematic experience built, in part, upon thousands of hours of never-before-seen material.” It is expected to hit theaters in Sept., followed by streaming on HBO Max. LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSbbDCV45OI
• Nirvana – Kurt Cobain’s 1969 Fender Mustang which he used for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and its video, was the highlight of Julien’s Auctions’ “Music Icons” sale over the weekend. The mythic electric guitar that changed music and the world sold for $4.5 million, far surpassing its original estimate of $600,000.
• Jimmie Allen – has revealed the tracklist for his new “Tulip Drive” album, out June 24 – and it includes a collaboration with J.Lo called ‘On My Way’. He says “This is the first (album) where I chose to write songs about my own personal experiences, thoughts and hopes.” He’ll tour starting in fall, as special guest on all dates of Carrie Underwood’s “Denim & Rhinestones Tour”.
• Gabby Barrett – is cutting her 2022 plans on Jason Aldean’s Rock N’ Roll Cowboy Tour short – because she’s expecting. Earlier this month she and her fellow artist husband, Cade Foehner, announced they’re expecting their second child, a boy. It’s believed she’s due in the fall, and she was scheduled to tour with Aldean from July through late October.
• Carrie Underwood – is teasing that her Vegas residency will return next year. Just days after completing “Reflection: The Las Vegas Residency at Resorts World” she posted a pic on Instagram showing her 7-year-old Isaiah and his 3-year-old brother, Jacob, with their backs turned to the camera, displaying jackets advertising their mom’s show in gold lettering. The caption: “We’ll be back!” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/4kcwb5xx

SHOOTING THE BULL

THE NEW ‘MANSPLAIN’:
By now, everyone is familiar with the term ‘mansplaining’, when someone (usually a man) explains something in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing. Well, according to an article in The Guardian, guys should also be careful to stay away from something known as “hepeating”. The term, which is rapidly gaining popularity, comes from a 2017 tweet by US physics professor and astronomer Nicole Gugliucci, who says her friends came up with the word to describe “when a woman suggests an idea and it’s ignored, but then a guy says the same thing and everyone loves it.” She gave the usage examples: “Ugh! I got hepeated in that meeting again,” and “He totally hepeated me!” The concept was immediately recognized, with her original tweet getting 185k likes and 58.8k retweets. While “hepeating” hasn’t made it into the dictionary, like ‘mansplaining’ has, some believe it’s only a matter of time.
(Would the word “hejack” work in this situation too?)
(I suppose it’s a good thing that no dude is trying to take credit for coming up with it!)
-Guardian

RUBIK’S RUSE:
If you’re the type of person who has always struggled to solve a Rubik’s Cube, you’ll want to stay as far away from THIS as possible. The company MegaHouse has come up with what they call the “Rubik’s Cube Impossible”. You can see where I’m going with this. They say it’s the most challenging variant of the popular toy ever. It looks much like a classic Rubik’s Cube, with the only difference being the coloring. The difficulty of the Rubik’s Cube Impossible lies in the fact that all 54 facets (or colored stickers) are iridescent, meaning they change color when looked at from different angles. As you can imagine, that makes it much harder to solve. It’s recommended only for those who are seasoned enthusiasts, and it should be pointed out that Shuhei Omura, the 2009 Rubik’s Cube World Champion, struggled with it so much that he even asked the development team to confirm that his prototype was not defective. How much? $30.
(…which is pretty inexpensive for a lifetime of frustration!)
(If this were a video game, my kid would figure it out in about 20 minutes!)
-OddityCentral

TECH TALK:
➢ A person’s dependence on social media is best judged when major networks such as Facebook go down, a new study says. Penn State researchers analyzed reactions to a 6-hour Facebook outage, and found that users of the site flooded rival Twitter with nearly a quarter of a million tweets about the outage, quickly making #facebookdown a top trending topic. While many comments reflected anger about the situation and others ridiculed Facebook, users also expressed a need to find other social media outlets. Another top trending topic after the outage was “social media detox”. The researchers concluded that social media platforms need to look at outages as seriously as utility companies view blackouts, and prepare communication plans to help consumers navigate the outage. (I thought people did just fine. Everyone just went to Twitter to complain – just like Twitter users do!)
➢ Sending emails is the “most frustrating” part of the workday for almost half of workers, according to a poll. The new survey of 2,000 office workers in the US found a lot of frustration in the workplace, with 48% agreeing that following up, sending reminders, responding and drafting new emails is the most irritating task in their day-to-day duties. Other top hair-pulling moments during their workdays include paperwork, hosting or sitting in on meetings, speaking with managers and team members, and helping customers. (And what exactly do these people do that they DON’T find irritating?)
-StudyFinds

MEANEST INSULTS YOU CAN SAY WITHOUT PROFANITY:
(according to a Reddit thread…)
☞ “I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.”
☞ “You couldn’t pour water out of a boot if the instructions were on the sole.”
☞ “Your gene pool could use a little chlorine.”
☞ “Anyone who ever loved you was wrong.”
☞ “If you were anymore inbred, you would be a sandwich.”
☞ “You look like a before picture.”
☞ “I treasure the time I don’t spend with you.”
☞ “If I wanted to kill myself, I’d climb to your ego and jump to your IQ.”
☞ “I hope your day is as pleasant as you are.”
(***See “BS Phone Starter”, below***)
-BroBible

DID YOU KNOW?
If you’re tired of your burritos or wraps falling apart as you bite into them, this could be perfect for you. Students at Johns Hopkins University have developed a new edible food tape. The young engineering students — all women — created “Tastee Tape,” which comprises of “a food-grade fibrous scaffold and an organic adhesive” designed to keep the contents of your comfort food under control during cooking and consumption. (It might also be a handy snack itself, in an emergency…)
-StudyFinds

BS CHRONOMETER 05.25.22

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Geek Pride Day”, a day for sci-fi fans and techno-nerds to stand tall. The date coincides with the 1977 release of the first “Star Wars” movie. What is a geek? The Geek Pride Organization says ‘you know one when you see one’. (I already knew this, because I had it circled on my “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” calendar…)
• “International Missing Children’s Day”, promoting awareness of the problem and safety tips for kids and parents. We’re encouraged to turn on our porch lights in observance and as a way to show hope for missing kids, and support for their families.
• “African Liberation Day”, when many African countries celebrate the hard-fought achievement of their freedom from European colonial powers. It was founded in 1958 and coincides with the African Union’s “Africa Day”.
• “Tap Dance Day”, honoring the birthday of Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, ‘King of Tap Dancers’, in 1878. (***Caution***: I wonder if tap dancers look at a floor and think “I’d tap that!”)
• “Brown Bag-It Day”, taking your lunch to work or school is an effective way to save money and to ensure you and your family are eating healthy (and to smuggle all of the cookies out of the house for yourself!). [And yes, last Thursday was “Brown Bag-It Thursday…”]
• “Wine Day”, in moderation, wine not only fights heart disease, it can also help with type II diabetes, stroke, some cancers, high cholesterol, and even liver disease. In general, red wines are healthier than white wines. (Really, ANY day is wine day!)

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Thurs] National Paper Airplane Day
[Thurs] World Redhead Day
[Fri] Cellophane Tape Day
[Fri] Nothing to Fear Day
This Month Is…Be Kind to Animals Month
This Month Is…Better Sleep Month

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1939 [83] (Sir) Ian McKellen, Burnley England, movie actor (“The Hobbit” films, “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “X-Men” series)

1944 [78] Frank Oz [Oznowicz], Hereford England, Muppeteer (‘Miss Piggy’, ‘Fozzie Bear’, ‘Bert’, ‘Grover’, ‘Cookie Monster’)/movie director (“Little Shop of Horrors”)/the voice of ‘Yoda’ also he is

1948 [74] Klaus Meine, Hanover Germany, rock singer (Scorpions-‘Wind of Change’, ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’)

1963 [59] Mike Myers, Toronto ON, movie actor (“Austin Powers” movies, “Wayne’s World” movies/voice of ‘Shrek’)/TV actor (“Saturday Night Live” 1989-95)/Canadian Walk of Fame 2003

1969 [53] Anne Heche, Aurora OH, TV actress (“Men in Trees” 2006-2008″, “Chicago PD” 2018-19/ movie actress (“Seven Days Seven Nights”, “Donnie Brasco”)

1972 [50] Octavia Spencer, Montgomery, LA, movie actress (“The Help”, “Hidden Figures”)

1976 [46] Cillian Murphy, Douglas Ireland, movie actor (“Inception”, “The Dark Knight Rises”)/TV actor (“Peaky Blinders” 2013-19) COMING UP…“Oppenheimer”, 2023

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1977 [45] “Star Wars” (Episode IV – A New Hope), directed by George Lucas and starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, is released, laying the groundwork for one of the most celebrated film franchises of all time. (This date 1983: “Return of the Jedi” is released)

2011 [11] Oprah Winfrey airs her final program, ending the 25-year TV run of “The Oprah Winfrey Show”

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1985 [37] Wham!’s ‘Everything She Wants’ hits #1 in the US, making them the first group since the Bee Gees to have three #1 hits from the same album. (‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’, ‘Careless Whisper’)

2005 [17] Carrie Underwood wins Season 4 of “American Idol” and becomes the show’s most successful alum: Her debut album goes on to sell over 7 million copies.

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
2001 [21] 32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer of Boulder CO becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest

2012 [10] The SpaceX ‘Dragon’ becomes the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with the International Space Station

BULL’S BITS

BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ Gloves have been around for 2,500 years. Mittens? Only about 1,000.
✓ Your taste buds are 30% less effective during a flight due to the combination of dryness and low air pressure.
✓ The sudden jolt, or feeling of falling down as you’re drifting to sleep is called a “hypnic jerk”.
✓ It takes 8 minutes for sunlight to reach Earth, and more than 5 hours to reach Pluto.
✓ On average, the more features your phone has, the longer you spend in the bathroom.
✓ Most toilets flush in the key of E flat.
-BathroomReadersInstitute, CTech

Best of BS . . .
BS BAD TURNDOWNS:
• “Sorry, I need to take this. My banana’s ringing.”
• “Sorry, I don’t do charity work.”
• “Sure, we can have coffee. I’ll bring my boyfriend.”
• “Oh, I’m interested. Just not in you…”
• “If you can’t even then I cannot with all of that.”
• “Are you freakin’ kidding me?”
• “Sorry, I have to wash my shampoo that day.”
• “I can do better.”
• “Not you, I was asking your friend. The pretty one.”
• “For what?”
-Twitter, first published in BS in 2020

BS LEAST POPULAR TV SPORTS:
• Bungee Archery
• Seniors Hide-and-Seek
• Bowling-Ball Soccer|
• Greco-Roman Tiddly Winks
• Public Pool Warm-Spot Obstacle Course
• Nude Bowling
• Cobra Throw
• Lawn Farts
• Synchronized Snow-Writing
-First published in BS in 2006

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
• Nick, Joe, and Kevin are brothers and members of which famous band?
a) The Allman Brothers Band
b) Jonas Brothers [CORRECT]
c) Hanson
d) The Carpenters

• Who is the eldest son in the family of David and Victoria Beckham?
a) Brooklyn [CORRECT]
b) Cruz
c) Romeo
d) Bendit

• Carrie Underwood’s husband, Mike Fisher, finished his pro hockey career with what NHL team?
a) Philadelphia Flyers
b) Nashville Predators [CORRECT]
c) Ottawa Senators
d) Green Bay Packers
-WeLoveQuizzes

BS WEB GOODIE:
Pretty sure they added SFX, but even so (sound up):   https://tinyurl.com/5dtwxp6n

BS RANDOM JOKE:
They usually have 3 tellers at my bank. Except when it’s very busy. Then they have one.

BS PHONE STARTER:
What’s the best comeback to an insult that you’ve ever heard?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question:  Just 8% of people say can’t remember their first one of THESE. What is it?
Answer:  Concert (What was yours?)

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Stop waiting for the right time. Because time isn’t waiting for you.