Thursday, October 4, 2007        Edition: #3627
The Most Home Runs in Show Prep!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
TODAY final bids will be taken in a charity eBay auction of furniture from the old “Tonight Show” set, including the sofa, guest chair, cocktail tables, ottoman, area rug & the desk, autographed by Jay Leno (proceeds go to a NYC-based educational & cultural organization) . . . Actor George Takei, who played ‘Hikaru Sulu’ on “Star Trek” has just had an asteroid named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union, ‘7307 Takei’, which was originally discovered by Japanese astronomers in 1994 . . . A man caught wandering around inside actor Nicolas Cage’s Newport Beach CA home wearing one of his jackets has pleaded not guilty to felony residential burglary (what, he thought he was on a tour?) . . . Howard K Stern has filed a $60-million libel suit against author Rita Cosby & her publisher over her book “Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death” in which she claims Stern & Anna Nicole Smith’s baby daddy Larry Birkhead had a guy-on-guy relationship (and the tacky fighting over money generated from a dead airhead continues) . . . Yet more mayhem has hit the production of “Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, Stephen Spielberg’s office confirming computers, photos & other info about the much anticipated new movie are missing (is this another publicity stunt?) . . . Contrary to previous reports, it seems Nicole Richie will NOT be marrying rocker bf Joel Madden NEXT WEEK because Good Charlotte will be on tour in Australia . . . “The Game Plan” star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson & his wife have donated $1 million to the football program at the University Of Miami, where he once played back in the day (The Hurricanes’ locker room will be renamed in his honor) . . . And an average 30-second spot on ABC-TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy” now costs $419,000, making it currently the most expensive on TV, according to “Advertising Age” (by comparison, a 30 on our show will only set you back 2 snails & a bag of rocks).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Duran Duran – They’ve dropped an anti-Iraq war song called “Criminals in the Capital” from their upcoming new album, “Red Carpet Massacre”, because they decided the track was ‘too angry’.
• Kellie Pickler – She’s split with boyfriend Jordin Tootoo of the NHL’s Nashville Predators and boy is she bitter! At a recent Michigan concert she announced that he was cheating on her and she hoped he got his teeth knocked out in a game. Ouch!
• matchbox 20 – Rob Thomas says the lineup of the reformed group is a little different. Drummer Paul Doucette is now the guitarist, after Adam Gaynor quit in 2005. And they now write music as a team, rather than letting Thomas handle all the lyrics.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – Frontman Anthony Kiedis is a first-time dad as his 22-year-old model-girlfriend Heather Christie has given birth to a baby boy in Los Angeles. No word on a name. How about ‘Cletus’?
• Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger certainly knows how difficult it is to avoid the trappings of fame, so he says he’s willing to help troubled Amy Winehouse quit drugs & booze. Jagger says he’s worried she might die if she continues her current rock & roll lifestyle.
• Tim McGraw – Starting TODAY, as a tie-in with his song “If You’re Reading This”, friends & family of soldiers can upload photos, post stories & comments on his website. It’s intended as a tribute to those in the military. A live performance of the tune has also been posted.
NET: http://www.timmcgraw.com/

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• Bloc Party – The UK indie rockers are on “Late Night With Conan O’ Brien” (NBC).
• Carrie Underwood/Chamillionaire – They’re the guests on “MuchOnDemand” (MuchMusic).
• Dierks Bentley – His 28-city “Throttle Wide Open” tour kicks off in Rome GA, with special guest Jack Ingram.
• “Hockey Night in Canada” (CBC) – A special Thursday double-header features a pair of home openers: Toronto @ Ottawa and Philadelphia @ Calgary. Ron MacLean will continue to host “HNIC” for at least the next 7 seasons as he’s just agreed to a new contract.
• International Bluegrass Music Awards – Sam Bush hosts the annual awards for bluegrass music at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville TN.
• matchbox twenty – They perform on the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC).
• Rihanna – She’s on “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS).
• “30 Rock” (NBC) – The 2nd-season premiere features a rare guest-star appearance by Jerry Seinfeld, playing … himself.

FUTURE FLICKS:
A BS selection of movies in the making …
• “Getty” – Producer/director Peter Berg (“The Kingdom”) will develop a drama about the 1973 kidnapping of oil heir Jean Paul Getty III, based on the John Pearson book “Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune & Misfortunes of the Heirs of J Paul Getty”. The grandson of the oil billionaire, Getty was snatched at age 16, with a $17 million ransom demanded. Ultimately, the ransom was paid, Getty was found in southern Italy, and the kidnappers got away.
• “The Party” – British actor Sacha Baron Cohen (“Borat”) will star in a remake of the 1968 Peter Sellers comedy classic. Cohen will play a bumbling East Indian extra named ‘Hrundri V’ who attends an over-the-top Hollywood bash and totally disrupts everything.
• “The Queen 2” – Writer/producer Peter Morgan has started work on a follow-up to “The Queen” that will dig into former UK prime minister Tony Blair’s relationships with US presidents Bill Clinton & George W. Bush. The movie will focus on Blair’s reaction to the handover of power from Clinton, a natural liberal ally, to Bush, who came from the other end of the political spectrum. What her nibs Queen Elizabeth 2 has to do with all this we shall have to wait and see.
• “Stopping Power” – Here’s a movie NOT getting made … at least for now. John Cusack was set to star in this action flick playing a test pilot who embarks on a high-speed car chase to save his kidnapped daughter. But one of the film’s biggest financial backers has just pulled out, putting the entire project on the shelf.

WHAT’S SO FUNNY?
An online poll by the British Association for the Advancement of Science asked users worldwide to submit their favorite jokes and rate the funniness of other submissions. Some facts from the data generated …
• Americans & Canadians favor jokes where people are made to look stupid, while Europeans like jokes that make fun of serious subjects like marriage, sickness & death.
• Germans, perhaps surprisingly, laugh the most. Canadians laugh the least.
• If you want to tell a funny animal joke, make it a duck … they’re apparently the funniest.
• According to the number crunchers, jokes containing 103 words are the funniest.
– PA News

SLIMMING SUDS:
Chinese scientists say they’ve developed a soap that is clinically proven to remove up to 5 lbs a month AND eliminate wrinkles. The soap, which has to stay on the body for 3 minutes to do its work, contains iodine and kelp. (As well as extra coarse sandpaper.)
– “Goofball News”

TOP GET-UPS ‘07:
THIS YEAR’s favorite choices among kids & adults for Halloween costumes so far …
1. Princesses (10.7%)
2. Spider-Man (4.8%)
3. Pirates (4.7%)
And the favorite choices for pet costumes …
1. Devils (12%)
2. Pumpkins (9.3%)
3. Witches (4.5%)
– National Retail Federation

WOMEN VS MEN:
Is this true? According to a recent ‘WomenTrend’ poll, 87% of female respondents believe that women get put down or ridiculed when they do something bad, but men get a ‘cool’ reputation for exhibiting the same kind of behavior. (Sleeping around, getting drunk, etc)
– AFP

DESK RAGE:
According to a survey of over 1,300 workers, stress & long hours are driving employees nuts at the office. A few highlights …
• 42% say there’s yelling and verbal abuse in their office.
• 23% say they have been driven to tears because of workplace stress.
• 20% say they’ve quit a job because of stress.
• 14% say machinery or equipment has been damaged as a result of workplace rage.
• 12% say they now work in a cubicle like the cartoon character ‘Dilbert’.
• 12% say they’ve called in sick because of stress at work.
• 10% of workers say employees have come to blows because of stress at work.
– CareerBuilder.com

ALL MEN ARE PERVS:
A recent study suggests the reason women have ended up less hairy than men is because … men like them that way. Professor Robin Dunbar of Liverpool University says that it’s a primordial trait for men to seek younger, more fertile women. Over the process of time, men have tended to be attracted to women with more childlike, babyish features. Models, for instance, tend to have faces characteristic of 7-year-olds. (And in many cases, the brains.)
– “Men’s Health”

DID YOU KNOW?
• A new bra developed in the UK can detect breast cancer at the earliest possible stage. The smart bra uses a microwave antenna device built into its structure to collect data about each breast.
– “New Science”
• After a squirrel breaks a nut’s shell, it cleans the nut by licking it or rubbing it on its face. The action leaves a scent on the nut so the squirrel can find it later, even under snow.
– Squirrels.org
• Girls aged 3-to-6 tend to worry more than boys the same age because they’re more likely to believe that ‘past experiences accurately forecast the future’. Wha’?
– LiveScience.com
• About 16,000 words in the new edition of the “Shorter Oxford English Dictionary” have lost their hyphens. Among the affected entries: ‘pot-belly’ is now ‘pot belly’, and ‘leap-frog’ is ‘leapfrog’.
– BBC News

BS CHRONOMETER 10.04.07

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1944 [63] Tony LaRussa, Tampa FL, MLB manager (2006 World Series Champion St Louis Cardinals)

1946 [61] Susan Sarandon (Tomalin), NYC, movie actress (“Mr Woodcock”, 1996 Oscar-“Dead Man Walking”)/actor Tim Robbins’ partner since 1988

1960 [47] Gregg ‘Hobie’ Hubbard, Apopka FL, country musician (Sawyer Brown-“Drive Me Wild”, “Some Girls Do”)

1965 [42] John Melendez, Massapequa NY, TV announcer (“Tonight Show With Jay Leno” since 2004, the cushiest job in show biz?)/former radio personality (Howard Stern)

1969 [38] Abraham Benrubi, Indianapolis IN, TV actor (‘Ben Jackson‘ on “Men in Trees” since 2006, “ER” 1994-2006)

1976 [31] Alicia Silverstone, San Francisco CA, movie actress (“Clueless”, “Batman & Robin”)

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “National Golf Day”, an annual charitable event sponsored since 1952 by the PGA when the group’s 4,300-plus professional members are encouraged to play a round with contributors. Entry fees go towards a wide range of charitable causes.

• “Toot Your Flute Day”, to encourage the idea of selling yourself and telling others how good you are, while rejecting the idea that self-promotion is ‘bragging’.

• “United Nations Day of Older Persons”. I said, it’s the UNITED NATIONS DAY OF …

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2363 [-356] United Federation of Planets’ “Starship Enterprise” is commissioned (“Star Trek”)

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1970 [37] Rock & blues singer Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose at age 27

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1976 [31] 1st ‘Female TV Network News Anchor’ as Barbara Walters joins Harry Reasoner on “ABC Evening News” for a then-record $1 million-per-year

COMING UP . . .
[Fri] 13th National Denim Day
[Fri] Techies Day
[Fri] World Teachers Day
[Fri] “Feel the Noise”; “The Heartbreak Kid”; “The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising” open in movie theaters
[Sat] Frugal Fun Day
[Sat] Lawyers Day
[Sun] Grandparents Day
[Mon] Thanksgiving Day (no “BS” service)

[Mon] Columbus Day
This Week Is … Walk a Child to School Week
This Month Is … Celebrate Sun Dried Tomatoes Month
 
BULL’S BITS

BS CAR POOL GAME:
You’re looking for a contestant with a cellphone riding in the passenger seat of a vehicle. In order not to cause an accident, specify that drivers may NOT play. The contestant roots through the glove compartment and scores points (or prizes) for each of the following …
• Foreign coins. (Perfect for unsuspecting ‘squeegee kids’.)
• A road map that hasn’t been folded properly. (Make them re-fold it.)
• Unpaid parking tickets. (Points for each one.)
• Really bad CDs. (Award points based on how awful they are.)
• Facial tissues. (Bonus if they’re used.)
• Used lollipop, candy, chewing gum. (Extra points if it’s now covered in blue fluff.)
• Something to keep kids quiet. (Travel games, a pack of cards, a pint of vodka … a gun.)
• A book to read during traffic gridlock. (Bonus points for “War and Peace”.)
• Furry dice. (Points for being prepared in case they come back into fashion again.)
• Points for anything embarrassing. (Underwear, condoms, tampons … body parts.)
• And 1000 bonus points if they look in the ‘glove compartment’ and find … gloves!

BS NAMESAKES:
Exonyms are the names used by foreigners to refer to a place instead of the name used by those who live there. We’ll tell you the native name used by locals, you tell us what we call it. Here’s a easy-peasy one to start you off …
• Roma … Rome, Italy.
• Koln … Cologne, Germany.
• Athina [‘ah-THEE-nuh’] … Athens, Greece.
• Bruxelles [‘brook-SELL’] … Brussels, Belgium.
• Wien [‘veen’] … Vienna, Austria.
• Torino [‘tour-EE-no’] … Turin, Italy.
• Muenchen [‘MEWN-shun’] … Munich, Germany.
• Firenze [‘fee-REN-zuh’] … Florence, Italy.
• Civitas Vaticana … Vatican City.
• Baile Atha Cliath [BAL-yeh AWE-hah CLEE-ah] … Dublin, Ireland.

BS RANDOM JOKE:
• They say that baseball is the national pastime, but I think it’s watching celebrities have breakdowns.
• My doctor couldn’t diagnose a decapitation.

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: THIS is the #1 word women use when wanting to end an argument.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: “Fine”.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Bad dates are just research.