BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ 46-year-old Brit actor Daniel Craig has quit the upcoming courtroom drama “The Whole Truth” just days before he was due to begin shooting in Boston MA with 44-year-old co-star Renée Zellweger. Craig was set to play a District Attorney and had been spotted preparing for the role at Boston’s Suffolk County Superior Court last month. Producers have halted production on the indie film and the start date has been moved back by 3 weeks. It had been scheduled to begin filming this coming Monday.
– “Boston Globe”
★ 25-year-old actor Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”) is set to make his Broadway debut in a revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s 1996 play “This is Our Youth”. Cera plays a dejected 19-year-old who has stolen $15,000 from his tycoon father, while fellow Broadway newcomer Kieran Culkin (31) portrays his drug-dealer friend. They first appeared in the play together in Sydney, Australia two years ago. Previews begin in Chicago IL June 10th and, if all goes well, the production will then transfer to Broadway’s Court Theatre in August.
– Canoe.ca
★ And actress Anne Lee Greene has been hit with a breach-of-contract lawsuit by producers of the HBO series “Femme Fatales”. Her crime? Refusing to appear fully nude in sex scenes. Greene filed a complaint in LA court 2 years ago, claiming she was bullied into performing nude scenes and sexually harassed during her time on the show. Now a countersuit accuses her of breaching the ‘nudity rider’ she signed, agreeing to appear fully naked. Producers claim her refusal caused a substantial delay in the filming schedule. They want $85,000 in ‘damages’.
– WENN.com

WEEKEND SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Arsenio Hall” (syndicated) – Tonight Martina McBride (“Everlasting”).
• Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Indio CA) – Today the annual 2-weekend rock bash gets underway. This year’s performers include Arcade Fire, Beck, Cage the Elephant, Foster the People, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Muse, Outkast, Pharrell Williams, Queens Of the Stone Age, and the reunited Replacements. The same lineup is featured again next weekend.
NET: http://www.coachella.com
• “The Dave Clark Five – Glad All Over, a Great Performances Special” (PBS) – Tonight rare concert footage and performances by the 1960s British group. Rerun from earlier in the week.
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated) – Today Miranda Lambert (“Platinum”, out June 3rd).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Tonight Icona Pop (“This Is… Icona Pop”). Rerun.
• “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC) – Tonight Lil Jon (“Crunk Rock”). Rerun.
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS) – Tonight David Nail (“I’m a Fire”). Rerun.
• “Live With Kelly & Michael” (syndicated) – Today R5 (“Louder”).
• “Mad Men” (AMC) – Sunday Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss et al return in the debut of the 1st episode of the popular show’s 2-flight final season.
• “MTV Movie Awards” (MTV) – Sunday Conan O’Brien hosts for the 1st time. “American Hustle”,  “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, “12 Years a Slave”, and “The Wolf of Wall Street” are up for ‘Movie Of the Year’. But what we really care about is who wins ‘Best Kiss’, ‘Best Fight’, ‘Best Shirtless Moment’, and ‘Best WTF Moment’. Performers include Ellie Goulding, Eminem w/Rihanna, twenty one pilots, and Zedd.
NET: http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards
• “Saturday Night Live” (NBC) – Seth Rogen hosts for the 3rd time (“Neighbors”, in theaters May 9th); musical guest Ed Sheeran (“x”, out June 23rd).
• “Tavis Smiley” (PBS) – Tonight Stewart Copeland (ex-The Police).
• “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC) – Tonight new Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee KISS.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Big Sean – The Detroit-based rapper (w/Drake-“All Me”) has called off his engagement with “Glee” actress Naya Rivera (whom he met on Twitter) just 6 months after it was announced and – not surprisingly – it seems to have caused a serious rift.
• Christina Milian – She’s taken in 3 baby opossums after their mother was run over by a car. The “AM to PM” singer has posted a pic on Instagram of the baby critters in a cushioned box under a heat lamp in her home. She’ll play mom until she finds a suitable animal shelter.
• Drake – In a bit of a surprise move, ESPN has announced he’s been tapped to host the “2014 ESPY Awards”, to be broadcast live on July 16th from Los Angeles. The ESPYs recognize individual and team athletic achievements and other sports-related performances.
• Eminem – He and director Spike Lee are teaming up in Detroit MI to film the video for Em’s track “Headlights”, which features fun. frontman Nate Ruess. No word on whether Ruess also appears in the video.
• “Frozen” – The Disney soundtrack continues to top the new Nielsen SoundScan sales chart for next week, remaining at #1 for it’s 9th non-consecutive week.
• Janis Joplin – The off-Broadway debut of a musical based on her life has been delayed indefinitely due to ‘production issues’. “A Night With Janis Joplin”, starring Mary Bridget Davies, had a 4-month run on Broadway but plans to move it to a smaller venue have fallen through.
• Katy Perry – This week the 29-year-old “Dark Horse” singer has posted a pic of herself on Instagram sporting a head of … green hair.
• Will.i.am – He’s expressed interest in recording with his “Rio 2” co-star, Anne Hathaway. Hathaway voices the role of ‘Jewel’ in the film; while Will.i.am is ‘Pedro’. Will says he was ‘blown away’ by her singing voice and wants to do something outside of an animated film.

TODAY’S MOVIE OPENINGS:
• “Draft Day” ( PG-13 Sports Drama ): At the NFL Draft, general manager ‘Sonny Weaver’ has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the #1 pick. He must decide what he’s willing to sacrifice on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with NFL dreams. Stars Kevin Costner, Chadwick Boseman, Jennifer Garner, Frank Langella.
NET: http://draftdaythemovie.com
• “Oculus” (  R-Rated Horror ): A woman tries to exonerate her brother, who was convicted of murder, by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon. Stars Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites. Shot in Mobile, Alabama. Nothing whatsoever to do with the Oculus company that makes virtual reality goggles, which Facebook just bought for $2 billion.
NET: http://www.oculus2014.com
• “Rio 2” ( G-Rated Animated Adventure ): It’s a jungle out there for ‘Blu’, ‘Jewel’ and their 3 kids after they’re hurtled from Rio to the Amazon wilds. As ‘Blu’ tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful ‘Nigel’, and the most fearsome adversary of all … his father-in-law. Voice cast includes Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Kristin Chenoweth, Andy Garcia.
NET: http://www.riomovies.com
• Also opening in limited release: “Cuban Fury” (Comedy); “Dancing in Jaffa” (Documentary); “Hank & Asha” (Romantic Comedy); “Hateship Loveship” (Drama); “Joe” (Drama); “Only Lovers Left Alive” (Vampire Fantasy); and “The Railway Man” (Biographical Drama).

PUT THIS ON YOUR ‘TO DO’ LIST FOR TODAY:
Several tech firms are urging people to change all their passwords – especially high-security services like email, file storage, and banking – after the discovery of a major security flaw. The co-called ‘Heartbleed Bug’ that has compromised OpenSSL, a product used to safeguard sensitive data (such as ‘https//:’ sites). One security technologist says that on a scale of 1-to-10, this ranks as an 11. Those affected include Canada’s CRA tax collecting agency, which halted online services. Experts suggest the following guidelines when picking new passwords …
• Don’t choose one that’s obviously associated with you (birthday, pet name, etc).
• Choose words that don’t appear in a dictionary.
• Use a mixture of unusual characters (0#6!).
• Have different passwords for different websites and computer systems.
• Keep passwords safe, by storing them on a secure password vault on your phone.
(No need to panic,  just do what you should have been doing – regularly changing passwords.)
– BBC News Technology

BOOZE-FREE BARS ALL THE RAGE IN UK:
All the nightlife, hold the hangover. That’s the pitch behind a growing number of alcohol-free bars springing up in Britain. The increasing popularity of the establishments, often funded by anti-alcoholism organizations, could signal a change in attitude amongst the young. Some proponents say the attraction of going to a ‘dry bar’ is that it’s a chilled out place where you don’t have to worry about spending money on alcohol or about how you’re getting home. Stats show the phenomenon may reflect a change in thinking: The number of people aged 25-44 who say they’ve had a drink within the past week has dropped from 74% to 63% for men and from 62% to 50% for women since 2005. (At closing time in these places, everyone still looks ugly.)
– Sky News

RECHARGE IN A HALF-MINUTE:
A battery that can charge a mobile device in under 30 seconds has been shown off at a technology conference in Tel Aviv. Israeli start-up StoreDot unveiled the device – made of biological structures – at Microsoft’s Think Next Conference. In one demonstration a Samsung S4 smartphone went from dead battery to full power in just 26 seconds. The battery is currently only a prototype but the company predicts it will successfully integrate it into a smartphone within a year and have a commercially viable product within 3 years. The batteries are likely to be 30-to-40% more expensive to manufacture compared to traditional ones, meaning the final product will be twice as expensive than those currently on the market. (How come ‘smartphones’ aren’t at least partially powered by solar or motion technology? Even your 2-buck calculator has that.)
– TheStar.com

DID YOU KNOW?
Bolstered by decriminalization laws in Washington state and Colorado, marijuana could become an $8.2 billion retail business by 2018, according to a new projection. That’s a 33% jump over earlier forecasts and a 5-fold increase over expected 2014 retail and medical sales.
– “Marijuana Business Daily”

BS CHRONOMETER 04.11.14

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1979 [35] Chris Gaylor, Stillwater OK, rock drummer (All-American Rejects-“Gives You Hell”, “Dirty Little Secret”)

1987 [27] Joss Stone (Joscelyn Stoker), Dover UK, pop-soul singer (“You Had Me”, “Fell In Love With a Boy”)/TV actress (“The Tudors” 2009-10)

SATURDAY –
TV actor Ed O’Neill (“Modern Family”) is 68; TV host David Letterman (“Late Night”) is 67; Movie actor Andy Garcia (“Rio 2”) is 58; Country singer Vince Gill (“When Love Finds You”) is 57; Pop-rock bassist Guy Berryman (Coldplay) is 36; TV actress Claire Danes (“Homeland”) is 35; Rock singer-guitarist Brendon Urie (Panic At the Disco) is 27; Fashion model Brooklyn Decker (“Sports Illustrated”) is 27.

SUNDAY –
TV/movie actor Ron Perlman (“Sons of Anarchy”) is 64; Rock drummer Max Weinberg (E Street Band) is 63; Rock singer Aaron Lewis (Staind) is 42.

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Day of Silence”, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) annual day of action to protest bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. Supporters take a day-long vow of silence in protest.
NET: http://www.dayofsilence.org
• “Pet Day 2014”, sponsored by the Animal Miracle Network as a reason to ‘paws’ and consider the plight of the many animals in shelters awaiting a home.
NET: http://www.petdayusa.com/about.htm
• “World Parkinson’s Disease Day”, to boost awareness of the disorder and to spur new research and treatment innovations. The red tulip is the official flower of “World PD Day”.

SATURDAY –
• “Baby Massage Day”, observed annually on the 2nd Saturday in April to salute the growing practice that is said to soothe, relax, and stimulate babies.
NET: http://www.babymassage.net
• “Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day”. Almost anyone can make one, but almost everyone does it a bit differently. What’s your secret trick?
• “International Day for Street Children”, the 4th annual designed to give millions of street kids worldwide – and their champions – the chance to speak out so their rights cannot be ignored.
NET: http://www.streetchildrenday.org
• “Licorice Day”. The best kind?  We say ‘zout’ (salt) from The Netherlands. A recent UK study says licorice is good for dental health. (It’s the anise that does it.)
NET: http://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/licorice-day
• “Slow Art Day”, an annual global all-volunteer event designed to enable more people to appreciate art. Why ‘slow’? When we look slowly at an artwork we make discoveries, without need of any ‘expertise’.
NET: http://www.slowartday.com
• “Walk on Your Wild Side Day”, a day to do something unpredictable, ie: Going to work dressed like a gorilla, getting a Master’s degree, anything ‘they’ said you’d never do.

SUNDAY –
• “Scrabble Day”, honoring one of the world’s most popular games on the anniversary of the 1899 birth date of its inventor, Alfred Butts, a jobless architect who came up with the idea during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2013 [01] Influential comedian/actor Jonathan Winters dies at age 87 in Montecito, California (inspiration to the likes of Billy Crystal, Jim Carrey, Jimmy Kimmel, Robin Williams, and Steve Martin)

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2002 [12] Aretha Franklin and several Motown recording stars are honored with street names in Detroit MI’s new low-income housing project (“You can’t miss it, it’s at the corner of Aretha and Smokey …”)

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2004 [10] After 11 years as a pro, golfer Phil Mickelson wins his 1st major championship, The Masters

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1964 [50] The Beatles set a new record as 14 of their singles are listed at the same time on the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart (from “Can’t Buy Me Love” at #1 to “Love Me Do” at #81)

COMING UP . . .
[Mon] Passover begins (Jewish)
[Mon] Dictionary Day
[Mon] International Moment of Laughter Day
[Tues] Bicycle Day
[Tues] US Income Tax Pay Day
This Week Is … 911 Operators Week
This Month Is … International Guitar Month

BULL’S BITS

UNCOMFORTABLE BS MOMENTS AT EVERY BRIDAL SHOWER:
✗ The bride trying to introduce people to each other while forgetting all their names.
✗ Some 2nd cousin-once-removed inviting herself. And her 3 kids. And their dog.
✗ Someone accidentally referring to the groom by the bride’s ex-boyfriend’s name.
✗ An older aunt pounding back frozen margaritas after asking, “Is it noon yet?”
✗ Any discussion of honeymoon sex.
✗ Someone asking the bride how much weight she’s planning to lose before the wedding.
✗ A half-dozen guests all getting the bride-to-be the same gift … cheapest thing on the registry.
✗ A gift of sexy lingerie from an inappropriate relative who thinks she’s at a bachelorette party.
✗ The bride getting all the ‘How Well Do You Know Each Other?’ questions wrong.
✗ The mother-of-the-bride blurting that she hopes the bride pops out some grandkids ASAP.
✗ The gift of the ‘Better Marriage’ fart-absorbing blanket.
✗ You are the bride and they make you wear that frickin’ ribbon hat.
– Adapted from TheFrisky.com

BS RANDOM JOKE:
One rule of grammar to remember … double negatives are a no-no.

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ Is it really possible to be ‘just friends’ with an ex?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: Bartenders get more of THIS than people in other professions.
Answer: Sleep.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
If you can count your friends on one hand, you’re set for life.