Friday, October 29, 2004           Edition: #2898
Monthly Planning Calendar in Today’s Issue!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
After experiencing early contractions, Julia Roberts has been advised to stay in bed until she gives birth (until January?) . . . Actress Brittany Murphy has apologized for hinting that ex-boyfriend Ashton Kutcher has a small manhood, saying she was just joking (she meant to say ‘minuscule’) . . . Word has it Ashton Kutcher has demanded time off from his sitcom “That ’70s Show” to mark Kabbalah holy days . . . Jessica Simpson has topped a poll by TV’s “The Insider” asking who is America’s top blonde, beating Britney Spears 75% to 14% (Brit isn’t even a blonde anymore) . . . Britney managed to top another poll, however, beating out Pink 34% to 22% in PopDirt.com‘s poll for the – ‘least hygienic pop star’ . . . Siegfried & Roy, the hugely popular big cat tamers who retired after Roy Horn was mauled by a tiger LAST YEAR, are shopping around their joint memoir, in which they promise to tell ‘everything about their private and professional lives’ (oh the excitement!) . . . Rupert Murdoch is packing up his multimedia News Corp conglomerate and moving its HQ from Adelaide, Australia to that Mecca of the US entertainment industry – Delaware (huh?).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Tim McGraw – TOMORROW is his 10th annual “Swampstock” celebrity concert and softball game at the Tim McGraw Sports Complex in Rayville LA, postponed earlier due to Hurricane Ivan. Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Big & Rich and the Warren Brothers will appear.
• Destiny’s Child – They’ve admitted being together in a studio after a 3-year break was a stress-inducing nightmare, but they somehow managed to cope and the result, the new album “Destiny’s Fulfilled”, comes out NEXT MONTH.
•  Tom Petty – He’s signed a deal to publish the first authorized biography of his life, “Conversations With Tom Petty”, due a year from now.
• Gwen Stefani– Her long-awaited solo album “Love Angel Music Baby“ includes collaborations with Outkast’s Andre 3000 and rapper Eve. It’s out NOVEMBER 23rd.
• Ashlee Simpson – Someone is offering her purported cellphone number on eBay at $5.99 per person. The seller claims it was posted on her Website by accident, then quickly removed. But the seller also admits that if you call it all you get is a recording – just like when she ‘sings’.
• R Kelly – He stunned the Chicago audience on his current tour by mocking his felony charges and dressing as a prison inmate while simulating sex onstage with 2 women in a cage.
• The Wallflowers – They’ll perform a Halloween weekend concert aboard the aircraft carrier “USS John C Stennis”, welcoming the crew home to the US after a 5-month deployment.

TODAY’S MOVIE OPENINGS:
• “Ray” (PG-13 Biographical Drama): Actor Jamie Foxx wore eye prosthetics that really did make him blind for up to 14 hours a day in order to reenact the life of late R&B legend Ray Charles. For authenticity’s sake he lip-syncs Charles’ songs, but he really does play the piano in all scenes himself. Ray Charles died of liver failure on June 10, 2004 after filming had ended.
• “Saw” (R-rated Horror Thriller): With a dead body laying between them, two men wake up in the secure lair of a serial killer who’s been nicknamed ‘Jigsaw’ by the police because of his unusual calling card. Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes & Danny Glover star.

WHERE’S YOUR WIGGLIES?
A team of researchers at the universities of Pennsylvania and Rochester have studied the sperm counts of more than 1,300 men, and found that lower sperm counts may be caused by alcohol consumption, electric-blankets and waterbeds. Waterbed and electric-blanket users were 4 times more likely to be infertile than non-users, likely due to overly warm sleeping conditions. The ‘playboy lifestyle’ of smoking, cannabis, alcohol – and tight pants – has already been linked to sluggish sperm. (All of this points to one thing – Scotsman should be really potent.)
– “Daily Telegraph”

SLEEPING ON-THE-JOB:
Working longer than 16 hours at a stretch exponentially increases the risk of accidents, according to Australian fatigue expert Dr Phillip Swann. And spending 24 hours on-the-job is equivalent to having a blood alcohol content of 0.1% … over the legal driving limit in most places. Swann also cautions that rest is not the same as sleep when it comes to reducing accident risk. We all need about 6 to 7 hours of sleep each night to function properly. (Well, that’s certainly good news when you’re hauled into the ER to be cared for by a resident who’s been working 34 hours straight, ain’t it?)
– “Weekly Times”

FLU PREVENTION:
Experts say one way to make it through the upcoming flu season is to – wash your hands long enough to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Thorough and frequent hand-washing is part of a new ‘respiratory etiquette’ public-health officials believe is taking hold. Experts credit SARS with making people much more aware of respiratory diseases. Although the flu season is not yet here, already there are scattered reports of people in meetings ‘masking up’ – wearing surgical masks for protection. (Or could it just be a bad zit day?)
– “Seattle Times”

THE FINGER TEST:
Studio experiment time! Hold your hand out. Are your index and ring fingers the same length or is the ring finger longer? For most men, the ring finger is slightly longer, and in most women, the 2 fingers are the same length. But now researchers from the UK’s Bath University have determined that men whose fingers are the same length (so they’re more in touch with their feminine side) seem to have special skills in the field of science. This may be due to above-average prenatal levels of estrogen that cause the right side of the brain to develop, the part responsible for spatial and analytical skills. Therefore, your future profession may be determined by the various things you’re exposed to while still in the womb. (In that case, I should be driving  an ice cream truck.)
– “New Scientist“

BS AMAZING FACTS:
• The physical characteristics of a werewolf are said to include hairy palms, a claw for a left thumbnail, tattoos, a unibrow, a long middle finger, lazy and tired during the day, sleeps with mouth open. (Sound familiar?)
• About 1 home out of every 5 in Florida has been damaged by a hurricane THIS YEAR.
– “Orlando Sentinel”

THE BULL SHEET 10.29.2K4

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1947 [57] Richard Dreyfuss, Brooklyn NY, movie actor (“Mr Holland’s Opus”, Oscar-“The Goodbye Girl”) who either recently quit or got fired from the London stage production of “The Producers”

1965 [39] Peter Timmins, Toronto ON, pop/rock musician (Cowboy Junkies-“Misguided Angel”)

1971 [33] Winona Ryder (Horowitz), Winona MN, movie actress (“Mr Deeds”, “Girl Interrupted”) convicted on shoplifting charges in 2002

1980 [24] Ben Foster, Boston MA TV actor (‘Russell Corwin’ on “Six Feet Under” since 2003)

SATURDAY’S BIRTHDAYS . . .
NFL head coach Dick Vermeil (Kansas City Chiefs) is 68; Classic rocker Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) is 65; Former TV actor Henry Winkler (“Happy Days”) is 59; Rocker Gavin Rossdale (Bush) is 37; Singer/rapper Snow (Darren O’Brien) is 35; Country singer Kassidy Osborn (SheDAISY) is 28.

SUNDAY’S BIRTHDAYS . . .
CBS-TV news anchor Dan Rather is 73; Recently retired TV anchor Jane Pauley is 54; U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr is 43; Movie director Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings”) is 43; Movie actor Rob Schneider is 41; Rapper Adam Horovitz (Beastie Boys) is 38; Rocker Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne) is 37.

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
TODAY is …
• “Hermit Day”.
• “Basketball Coaches Day”.
• “Laugh A Lot Suddenly For No Reason Day”.
• “International Internet Day”, observed on the 35th anniversary of the 1st connection on what would become the ‘Internet’. On October 29, 1969 bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute. Within a year, 10 sites were connected and there were soon applications such as e-mail. What regular use do you now get from the Internet that you would never have imagined a decade ago? Banking? Renewing library books? Comparing utility rates? Porn?

SATURDAY is …
• “National Buy a Doughnut Day”
• “Bodybuilders’ Day”, celebrating the 1893 birth of Charles Atlas (Angelo Siciliano) in Acri, Italy. Yes, a bully actually did kick sand in the former 97-lb weakling’s face and steal his girlfriend, leading him to develop a wildly popular mail-order body building course.
• “National Candy Corn Day”, celebrating the traditional Halloween candy that resembles corn kernels and can’t be resisted until you’ve finished off the entire 2-lb bag.
• “Devil’s Night” or “Mischief Night,” traditionally a night of pranks before Halloween.

SUNDAY is …
• “Halloween”, a tradition in Canada, the USA, the UK, Ireland, Australia and the Philippines. In recent years, the celebration has spread to other countries around-the-world.
• “International UNICEF Day”, observed on October 31st since 1967, the reason many trick-or-treaters collect donations in UNICEF coin boxes.
• “National Magic Day,” traditionally a day for magicians to meet, celebrated on the anniversary of Harry Houdini’s death October 31st, 1926. Every year, spiritualists hold a seance on Halloween to try and contact the late magician. So far, the line’s been busy!
• “Increase Your Psychic Powers Day”. Did you sense we were going to say that?

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1983 [21] Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” becomes ‘longest-charting album of all time’ as it logs its 491st week on “Billboard” ‘Top 200′ album chart (lasts 740 weeks altogether until July 13, 1988)

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1889 [115] Vancouver’s popular Stanley Park is dedicated

1945 [59] 1st ‘ballpoint pen’ goes on sale, 57 years after it was patented (for $12.95)

1947 [57] 1st ‘artificial rain’ created by seeding clouds with dry ice (Concord NH)

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1998 [06] 77-year-old return astronaut, US Senator John Glenn, becomes ‘oldest person to travel in space’ aboard space shuttle Discovery

BS MONTHLY PLANNING CALENDAR . . .
[Nov 1] Vegan World Day / Plan Your Epitaph Day / All Saints’ Day (All Hallow’s Day) / Sadie Hawkins Day / Family Literacy Day
[Nov 2] US Election Day / Devilled Egg Day / All Soul’s Day / Shania Twain Day (Timmins ON)
[Nov 3] Take Our Kids to Work Day / National Sandwich Day / Housewives’ Day / Cliché Day
[Nov 4] Season premiere of “The OC”
[Nov 5]  Governor-General’s Performing Arts Awards (Ottawa) / Guy Fawkes Day (UK) / “Alfie” and “The Incredibles” open in movie theaters
[Nov 6] Saxophone Day / Halfway Point of Autumn / National Men Make Dinner Day
[Nov 6-9] World Championships of Hairdressing (Milan, Italy)
[Nov 7] World Community Day / NYC Marathon
[Nov 8] Dunce Day / Cook Something Bold & Pungent Day / Parents As Teachers Day
[Nov 9] 38th CMA Awards
[Nov 10-14] Canadian Finals Rodeo (Edmonton)
[Nov 10] “The Polar Express” opens in movie theaters
[Nov 11] Remembrance Day
[Nov 12] “After the Sunset” and “Seed of Chucky” open in movie theaters
[Nov 14] 32nd American Music Awards / Operating Room Nurse Day / Eid-Al-Fitr, celebrating end of Ramadan (Islam)
[Nov 15 ] Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day / Pack Your Mom’s Lunch Day
[Nov 17 ] Take A Hike Day / Homemade Bread Day / National Farm Joke Day
[Nov 18] Married To A Scorpio Support Day / Bill Clinton Presidential Library & Museum opens (Little Rock AR)
[Nov 19 ] Have A Bad Day Day / World Toilet Day / “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason”, “National Treasure” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” open in movie theaters.
[Nov 20] / Absurdity Day / Name Your PC Day / Universal Children’s Day / National Child Day in Canada
[Nov 21 ] World Hello Day / False Confessions Day / 92nd Grey Cup (Ottawa)
[Nov 22 ] Start Your Own Country Day / Stop the Violence Day
[Nov 23] “Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban” released on DVD
[Nov 24] “Alexander” and “Christmas With the Kranks” open in movie theaters
[Nov 25] US Thanksgiving Day / Shopping Reminder Day / International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
[Nov 26] Buy Nothing Day / Sinkie Day / Beaver Moon (Full Moon in November) / 2004 Aboriginal Music Awards (Toronto)
[Nov 27 ] Pins & Needles Day / 2004 Vanier Cup (Hamilton)
[Nov 29] Electronic Greetings Day / Square Dance Day
[Nov 30] International Computer Security Day / Stay Home Because You Are Well Day / “Spider-Man 2″ released on DVD
[Dec 1] World Aids Day / Tom Brokaw retires from “NBC Nightly News”
[Dec 3] International Day of Disabled Persons
[Dec 4] Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day / 2004 Race of Champions Nations Cup (Paris, France)
[Dec 5]  2004 Kennedy Center Honors
[Dec 7] “The Ultimate Matrix Collection” 10-disc DVD set released
[Dec 8] 2004 Billboard Music Awards (Las Vegas) / Grammy Awards nominees announced
[Dec 11] Nobel Peace Prize Concert (Oslo, Norway)
[Dec 13] Gemini Awards Gala
[Dec 21] Humbug Day
[Dec 24] Christmas Day holiday
[Dec 31] New Year’s Day holiday / Make Up Your Mind Day

BULL’S BITS . . .
MOST-LIKELY-TO-DIE CELEBS:
1. Pope John Paul II
2. Osama bin Laden
3. Eddie Albert
4. Jerry Lewis
5. Billy Graham
A year ago today, we published a list topped by Ronald Reagan. Bingo!
– “Rotten Dead Pool”

BS PHONE STARTERS:
• How do you deal with a backseat driver?
• Have listeners call and sing old commercial jingles. You’ll be surprised by what they remember!

BS ‘BREAKFAST BINGO’:
Contestant gets 60 seconds to answer 5 questions about breakfast foods. The answers begin with the letters B-I-N-G-O …
• The longer you fry it, the crisper it gets. [Bacon]
• It’s what’s on your doughnut if it’s covered in white powder. [Icing Sugar]
• It’s the fuzzless variety of peach. [Nectarine]
• It’s a cereal mix often made with rolled oats, almonds, raisins & other dried fruit. [Granola]
• It’s the most popular breakfast juice. [Orange]

BS BLATANT JOKES:
• Sex is like a bridge game: If you don’t have a good partner, you better have a good hand.
• The definition of optimism – a bagpiper with a beeper.
• Over at the retirement home Halloween party this weekend they’ll be bobbing for dentures.

BS HALLOWEEN TRIVIA:
• If you suffer from samhainophobia (SOW’-an-o-foh-bee-uh), what do you fear? [Halloween]
• What Christian holiday is celebrated the day after Halloween? [All Saints Day]
• Instead of pumpkins, what did the Irish originally carve? [Turnips]
• This popular Halloween game started as a way of determining your future spouse. [Bobbing for apples.]
• What does the word Halloween mean? [‘Hallow’ is an old word meaning holy, while ‘e’en’ is Scottish slang for evening.]
• Why are orange and black the traditional colors of Halloween? [Likely because orange is associated with harvests and black is associated with death.]

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: Each year tens of thousands of people buy one of THESE, then don’t use it.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: A marriage license.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.