Tuesday, July 4, 2023 – Edition: #7508
Can You Believe This Sheet?
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Robert De Niro’s 19-year-old grandson, actor Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, has died. Robert’s daughter Drena De Niro revealed her son’s death in a touching Instagram tribute, writing: ““You have been my joy my heart and all that was ever pure and real in my life.” She did not share further details of Leandro’s death, but TMZ reports the 19-year-old was found dead sitting in a chair, in a New York City apartment Sunday afternoon. There were no obvious signs that led to his death. He was found by a friend who was checking on him after not hearing from him for a few days.
-PageSix, TMZ
★ Warner Bros.’ highly-anticipated “Barbie” movie has been banned in Vietnam. The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, was set to hit theaters in the country and around the world on July 21. But state media has announced the movie will not be released due to a scene that includes a map using the “nine-dash line” — a set of line segments that represent China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea — which Vietnam claims violates its sovereignty. The line is highly controversial as many of China’s neighbors— including Viet Nam, Taiwan and the Philippines, have competing and overlapping territorial claims, and the Chinese territory is contested.
-NYPost
★ “1000-Lb Sisters” star Tammy Slayton has posted a tribute to her late husband, Caleb Willingham, who died on Saturday. He was 40, and reports say he was estranged from his wife at the time of death. The couple married last year on the season finale of 1000-Lb. Sisters, which aired in March. On Instagram, she posted a pic of the 2 showing Slaton with her arms wrapped around Willingham’s neck as he holds her hands in his. She wrote: “Rip sweet angel you will forever be missed and loved so much thank you Caleb for showing me real love and happiness.” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/bdhw323e
-Deadline
★ Ezra Miller is speaking out following the expiration of a harassment order that was issued against them, which the “Flash” movie star’s lawyer has denied. The order was lifted June 30, a year after it was issued. In 2022, a Massachusetts woman accused Miller of acting inappropriately toward her child, now 12, and harassing her family. In a statement posted to Instagram, Miller said: “I’m encouraged by today’s outcome and very grateful at this moment to everyone who has stood beside me and sought to ensure that this egregious misuse of the protection order was halted.”
-E!
★ Two more films have joined “Elemental” and “The Flash” with a box office launch well short of their budgets. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” has opened to $60 million domestically, while “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” suffered the worst opening weekend in Pixar’s history. While meeting pre-release projections, “Indiana Jones 5” is well below the $100 million opening of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” in 2008. Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken took in an abysmal $5.2 million in its opening weekend.
-TheWrap
★ Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and her mom, June “Mama June” Shannon, are sharing their first emotional moment in years. The 17-year-old broke down in tears during a family therapy session while addressing their strained relationship in the latest episode of ”Mama June: Family Crisis.” Honey Boo Boo, who is under the sole custody of her sister, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, admitted that she feels left out with her other classmates, who have their mothers to lean on.
-PageSix
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): Danny DeVito, Lucy DeVito, Travis Bennett, bbno$ (R)
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Devine, Bruce Springsteen (R)
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Karl Urban, Stephen Sanchez (R)
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): Tom Holland, Alana Haim (R)
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Chris Tucker, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges (R)
• “The Talk” (CBS): Tabitha Brown, Lawrence Saint-Victor (R)
• “Live with Kelly and Mark” (ABC/CTV): Jake Shears, Nina Dobrev
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Check local listings): Topher Grace, Kelsea Ballerini (R)
• “The Drew Barrymore Show” (Check local listings): David Duchovny, Kirby Howell Baptiste (R)
• “Jennifer Hudson Show” (Check local listings): Jo Koy, Ashley McBryde (R)
• “Celebrity Jeopardy!” (ABC): Semifinal #3: Patton Oswalt, Brendan Hunt and Michael Cera
• “Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular” (NBC): Celebrating America’s birthday in New York with a live fireworks display; Performers include Ashanti, Bebe Rexha, Ja Rule, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, LL COOL J, DJ Z-Trip and The Roots.
• “The Fourth in America” (CNN): A concert celebrating America’s 247th birthday. Includes fireworks shows from across the country, and performances from Post Malone, Demi Lovato, Zac Brown Band, Duran Duran, Alanis Morrissette, Leon Bridges, Sheryl Crow, Darius Rucker, and others.
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Ed Sheeran – surprise-visited more unsuspecting fans, and his latest is the sweetest yet. Over the weekend, he crashed a youth orchestra recital in Boston. In a video, the kids are playing his hit ‘Eyes Closed’, which they learned without knowing he’d be joining them. Sheeran starts singing off-stage before joining the performers. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/4rchaufx
• The Weeknd – Friday, he dropped ‘False Idols’, a collab with Lil Baby and Suzanna Son, plus the solo song ‘Like a God’. Both songs appeared in the season finale of his TV series ‘The Idol’. The show’s soundtrack album was also released on Friday. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/mrxk72vw
• Mötley Crüe – Vince Neil says that the band has recorded 3 new songs with producer Bob Rock, one of which is a cover of the Beastie Boys’ 1986 hit ‘Fight For Your Right’. The band also plans to embark on another stadium tour next summer.
• Joni Mitchell – placed #1 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 50 Greatest Canadian Artists of All Time, prepared in time for Canada Day. Numbers 2-5, in order, are: Neil Young, Rush, Leonard Cohen and Drake. Nickelback? Didn’t make the list, but something called “Alvvays” did. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/y9ybb7ps
• Tracy Chapman – This week, she is expected to become the first-ever Black woman to have the sole songwriting credit on a #1 country hit. According to multiple sources, Luke Combs’ version of her 1988 song ‘Fast Car’ is expected to reach the top of the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
• Jelly Roll – lost his mullet. He documented his haircut on social media with a fun video. At the beginning, he asks his wife, who was not a fan of his luscious locks, if she’ll miss his hair. Her answer: “Bro, me and about 5,000 other women.” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/43ecm3p5
• Toby Keith – has returned to the stage after battling stomach cancer, performing an impromptu show. A post to his social media shows him looking thin but healthy and smiling, and says: “Toby‘s first rehearsal turned into a 2½ hour pop-up show. He sang all the hits plus the Bus Songs…Toby is back!” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/bd5n5e9a
• Little Big Town – will serve as host and performer at the first-ever People’s Choice Country Awards. On Sept. 28, the group will take the Grand Ole Opry House stage, kicking off the recently announced spin-off of NBCUniversal’s People’s Choice Awards. Categories, nominees and presenters have yet to be announced, but we know the show will air on NBC and stream on Peacock.
SHOOTING THE BULL
ELON STORY SHORT:
Twitter users were surprised to learn over the weekend that the social media site is limiting how many tweets per day users can read. Why? Executive Chair Elon Musk said the temporary move is to discourage “extreme levels” of data scraping and system manipulation. Verified accounts were limited to reading 6,000 posts a day, and unverified accounts were limited to 600 per day, while new unverified accounts were limited to 300, although those numbers have since been increased. Those numbers will increase marginally, Musk said in a separate tweet, but he didn’t provide details on when. Musk indicated that hundreds of organizations were scraping Twitter data “extremely aggressively”, affecting user experience. He’s also concerned with AI firms like OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, using Twitter’s data to train their language models.
(Have you been on Twitter lately? I wouldn’t read 600 tweets if you paid me!)
(NOW what am I supposed to do for 8 hours every day at work?)
-CTV, Guardian
FIREWORKS:
With many areas under burn bans due to dry conditions or lingering wildfire smoke, the concept of replacing fireworks with alternatives is gaining more traction. Replacing fireworks with what? Lighted drone shows, of course. No only can drone shows proceed during extremely dry conditions, they have other advantages. They’re quiet for people and pets who don’t like explosive sounds. And besides the synchronized music, a drone show is quite quiet. Businesses, schools, sports teams and concerts use drone shows for things like brand launches, pep rallies and special occasions. A fleet of drones — from 30 to 3,000 — form images in the sky of animals, people – and pretty much anything else, moving in perfect time with music. Drones are actually brighter than fireworks — and can be seen up to 10 miles away, according to one expert. The downsides? Drones only have 12-minute batteries, so shows are short. GPS and wind interferences can affect formations. Any company that supplies drone shows needs about 6-months’ notice, and operators need a special license and FAA approval (in the US). You’ll also need to notify airports and emergency services.
(You’ll also want to come up with a special catchphrase for drone shows. Because “Oooh” and Ahhh” just won’t cut it!)
(They’ll take my fireworks from my cold, dead fingers. One is over THERE…and another is over THERE!)
-Kera, Globe&Mail
FIRING IN THE WORKS?
Quiet quitting. OK, are you sick of hearing that phrase yet? Here 2 newer work-related buzzwords that have cropped up recently…
❑ Loud Quitting: While quiet quitting is often regarded as a rejection of “hustle culture”, some workers are no longer keeping their discontentment on the down-low — instead, engaging in “loud quitting.” Almost 1 in 5, of global employees are loudly quitting or actively disengaged, according to a new report from Gallup. It defined loud quitters as those who take actions that “directly harm” the organization, while undercutting its goals and opposing its leaders. (If my organization’s goals involve making me stay right until 5pm on the Friday of a long weekend, then heck YES, I’m trying to undercut them!)
❑ Grumpy Staying: These are workers who are staying in their jobs, but aren’t happy about it. In recent times, they may have joined the Great Resignation or just ‘quiet quit’. But as the job market cools off, and more companies issue return-to-office mandates, some employees are compelled to get louder about their dissatisfaction — while still keeping their job. (Who knew that ***[Afternoon guy]*** was a pioneer in his field?)
-CNBC, Insider
THE BEST-EVER FILM FRANCHISES:
With the new ‘Indiana Jones’ movie…shall we say…not exactly adding to the legacy of that film series, here is a look at the top-5 film franchises of all time, as recommended by online experts…
1. Marvel Cinematic Universe: Of course, with a whopping 32 films, chances are that it would be high up on the list. “Avengers: Endgame”, which hit the theaters in 2019, was a fitting conclusion to the Infinity Saga that began in 2008 with “Iron Man”.
2. Star Wars: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the first film premiered (1977). It was like nothing audiences seen before; a Shakespearean space opera filled with action, quotable dialogue, and special effects that were second to none.
3. Middle-Earth: “The Lord of the Rings” is an epic fantasy series that remains impactful and essential viewing for anyone—even those who don’t care much for fantasy. Each film is executed with a wondrous scope and thematic storytelling.
4. Wizarding World: In 1997, when “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (or “Philosopher’s Stone”) hit bookshelves, little did anyone know the impact it would have on society. The 11 films of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts’ enchanted audiences, and now, a TV series based on the original novels is also in development.
5. James Bond: Not only are the Bond movies one of the longest-running film franchises of all time, it is also one of the iconic franchises in the world. The 007 brand has 27 movies, and only 7 actors have portrayed the iconic role of ‘James Bond’ over the course of 60 years.
(What would you like to add to the list? Besides “Police Academy”, of course?)
-StudyFinds
DID YOU KNOW?
Would you plan your entire vacation around the food available at your destination? Millions do, a new survey reveals. A poll of 2,000 adults in the UK found that cuisine is more important than culture, landmarks, or even beaches when it comes to picking the perfect getaway. The survey also revealed that 42% of adults feel nervous about visiting a country where they aren’t familiar with the menu. And while nearly a quarter (23%) say their bucket list is more ‘food-based’ than ‘location-based’, 49% still said they like to eat at local independent restaurants when they’re away. (My vacation plans are usually more ‘dessert-based’ than anything else…)
-StudyFinds
BS CHRONOMETER 07.04.23
TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “U.S. Independence Day”, also known as the Fourth of July, it takes place on the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and celebrates the United States and its independence from Great Britain. It is a patriotic holiday extolling themes such as freedom and liberty. (And road trips, fireworks, mattress sales and competitive eating contests!)
• “Barbecue Day”, Almost everyone loves the taste of freshly grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, and steak! (So, gather up the gang and celebrate the time-honored tradition of singeing your eyebrows and arm hair…)
• “Country Music Day”, celebrating the roots music movement that began in America with the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and first-ever commercial country record, Fiddlin’ John Carson’s ‘Little Log Cabin in the Lane’ in 1923. Country is actually a mishmash of several other styles, including folk, Celtic, blues, gospel, hokum, and old-time music. (***See “BS Web Goodie”, below***)
• “Alice in Wonderland Day”, commemorating Lewis Carroll’s first telling of the famous children’s story to his young inspiration, Alice Liddell. It is the day on which Carroll sent his child friend, Alice, down a rabbit hole in his far-fetched tale, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”.
• “Sidewalk Egg Frying Day”, it’s July, the middle of summer. It’s hotter than blazes. Why, it’s so hot that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. Here’s your chance to go ahead and prove it! (What if I wanted them poached?)
• “Invisible Day”, if you could be invisible for just one day, what would you do?
• “Caesar Salad Day”, It’s not named after Julius Caesar. It’s actually named after the chef who created it – Caesar Cardini — who first concocted it at Caesar’s Place Restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico
AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Bikini Day
[Wed] Workaholics Day
[Thurs] Kissing Day
[Fri] Tell the Truth Day
This Week Is…Clean Beaches Week
This Month Is…Hemp Month
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1952 [71] John Waite, Lancaster England, rock-pop singer-guitarist (‘Missing You’, The Babys-‘Every Time I Think of You’, Bad English-‘When I See You Smile’)
1943 [80] (Gerald) Geraldo Rivera, New York NY, TV news personality (“Geraldo” 1987-98, “20/20”, “The Five” 2022-23)
1958 [65] Kirk Pengilly, Sydney Australia, rock guitarist-saxophonist (INXS-‘Need You Tonight’, Devil Inside’)
1961 [62] Andrew Zimmern, New York City NY, restauranteur, celeb chef (co-host of “Bizarre Foods” 2006-18)
1971 [52] Al Madrigal, San Francisco CA, TV actor (“About a Boy” 2014)/comedian (correspondent on “The Daily Show” 2011-16)
1981 [42] Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, New York NY, reality TV star (“Jersey Shore” 2009-12, “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” since 2018)
1983 [40] Melanie Fiona (Hallim), Toronto ON, R&B singer (w/Cee Lo Green-‘Fool for You’, ‘It Kills Me’)
1995 [28] Post Malone (Austin Post), Syracuse NY, rapper (w/21 Savage-‘Rockstar’, ‘Circles’)
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1999 [24] Victoria Adams, better known as ‘Posh Spice’ of The Spice Girls, marries soccer star David Beckham
2015 [08] Ashton Kutcher marries his “That 70s Show” co-star Mila Kunis in Los Angeles
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1982 [41] Former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne marries his manager Sharon Arden
1992 [31] The king of all booty songs, Sir Mix-A-Lot’s ‘Baby Got Back’, hits #1 in America
2015 [08] Ariana Grande touches off a social media firestorm when she is caught on camera licking some donuts on a display counter at Wolfee Donuts in Lake Elsinore, California
TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1996 [27] ‘Hotmail’, the free internet email service, makes its debut, one of the first webmail services. The name was chosen because it contains the letters ‘HTML’, the language used to create web pages. Microsoft acquired Hotmail in 1997, and it was replaced by Outlook.com in 2012
2009 [14] The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopens to the public in NYC’s harbor after 8 years of closure due to security concerns following the 9/11 attacks
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2021 [02] Competitive eater Joey Chestnut wins his 14th championship at the annual ‘Nathan’s 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest’ at NYC’s Coney Island, by eating a record 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes (He won his 15th championship last year. How will he do today?)
BULL’S BITS
BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ If a man’s tie is too tight, his vision gets worse.
✓ Some clouds travel up to 100mph (161kph) across the sky.
✓ Your hair contains traces of gold.
✓ Scientists believe that dreaming about an activity can actually help you improve at it in real life.
✓ The use of the abbreviation “OMG” can be traced back to 1917.
✓ The majority of your brain is fat.
-KickAssFacts, MentalFloss
BS WHACK U.S.A. FACTS:
✓ Scottish band The Bay City Rollers chose their name after sticking a pin in a map of America, which landed on the Michigan city.
✓ Redondo Beach, California adopted the Goodyear Blimp as the city’s official bird in 1983.
✓ Alaska is simultaneously the westernmost and easternmost state.
✓ Abraham Lincoln had the opportunity to populate the United States with elephants. He turned it down.
✓ The Square Dance is the official state dance of 24 states.
✓ Prior to President Trump, the first president, George Washington, was the wealthiest ever, with assets worth more than $500 million (in today’s dollars).
-MentalFloss
Best of BS . . .
BS REALLY ROTTEN SUMMER CAMPS FOR KIDS:
• Roadkill Culinary Camp
• Camp Itchibug of Muskoka
• Lil’ Toiler Textile Mill & Summer Camp
• Incontinent Palomino Trail Riding Camp
• Bring-Your-Mommy Sissy-Kid Camp
• Skeeter Camp of the Canadian North
• Mr & Mrs Cranky’s Camp for Kids Whose Parents Don’t Love Them, Don’t Want Them Around, and Won’t Even Pay for a Halfway Decent Camp
• Learn-to-Swim or Else Camp
-First published in BS 2001
TODAY’S SCOOP OF BS:
➠ Power outages knocked out Instagram servers Friday night, and it was still out in some places on Saturday morning. (It was horrible. I mean, what was I supposed to do with my brunch? EAT IT?)
➠ The American Heart Association has released a list of songs you can do CPR to. (That’s assuming the person doesn’t die while you’re scrolling through your song list…)
➠ A study shows women are attracted to men in plain white T-shirts. (But, unfortunately for me, that level of attraction seriously diminishes if the shirt is covered with pizza sauce…)
➠ Starbucks is raising the price of coffee. (If this keeps up, I’ll just get my coffee from the place next door. Which is . . . also a Starbucks. Damn.)
➠ Research shows plants can do a form of arithmetic. (Which unfortunately only adds more credence to my long-standing theory that my teenage son is dumber than the fern in our living room…)
BS WEB GOODIES:
• It’s “Country Music Day”. Why beat your brains out trying to write a country hit? You can instantly create clever lyrics for a new country song with the online ‘Country Song Lyrics Generator’ …
https://www.song-lyrics-generator.org.uk/country/
• Oh say, have you seen THIS? https://tinyurl.com/mrxemcmv
BS RANDOM JOKE:
Just a friendly 4th of July reminder that absolutely no one watches videos of fireworks recorded on a phone!
BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
• What is the #1 most popular cookie in the U.S.?
a) Chips Ahoy!
b) Oreo [CORRECT]
c) Girl Scout Thin Mints
d) Nutty Buddy
• On July 4, 1776, the US Declaration of Independence was adopted in which city?
a) Baltimore
b) Boston
c) Philadelphia [CORRECT]
d) Paris
• Which is NOT a USA territory?
a) Guam
b) US Virgin Islands
c) Puerto Rico
d) Micronesia [CORRECT]
-Reader’sDigest, CNN
BS PHONE STARTER:
If you were hired to show tourists (or aliens!) what life is like where you live, what would you show them, or have them do?
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: When a survey asked adults to reminisce about what made other kids’ homes a cool place to hang out at, THIS was the #1 answer. What is it?
Answer: Good snacks
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
To be one, to be united, is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is even greater.
