Wednesday, April 1, 2020        Edition: #6667

Happy “Bull Day”, We’re 27-Years-Old Today – No Foolin’!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ John Krasinski is setting out to bring the world some good news with the launch of his new YouTube series, “Some Good News.” And he did a pretty good job with the program’s first episode, which featured an interview with Steve Carell in honor of the 15th anniversary of “The Office.” Of course, they had to talk about their favorite memories of the show, which for Carell includes when Krasinski’s character ‘Jim’ did his impression of Rainn Wilson’s ‘Dwight Schrute’.
-TheWrap
★ When Spike Lee says “this is a great American story,” you might want to listen. The director unveiled the script for his unmade movie about Jackie Robinson that he hoped would star Denzel Washington. He shared a link to the screenplay on Instagram Sunday, where you can read all 159 pages. Lee said the film was a “dream project” that he hoped would reunite him with Washington, the star of Lee’s 1992 film “Malcolm X”. The script focuses on the legendary athlete who broke color barriers when he began playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
-MSN
★ Five deactivated guns used in Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan’s ‘James Bond’ movies have been stolen from a U.K. collector’s home. The movie memorabilia includes the iconic Walther PPK handgun used in Moore’s “A View to a Kill”, as well as the Beretta ‘Cheetah’ and Beretta ‘Tomcat’ pistols that featured in Brosnan’s “Die Another Day”. They were among a number of prop guns stolen in the burglary which took place in north London, on Monday. They are estimated to be worth around $122,000
-Canoe
★ James McAvoy has donated $340,000 to help purchase equipment for health service staff treating coronavirus patients.  The money was given to the crowdfunding campaign Masks for Heroes, set up by a group of U.K. doctors to raise money to buy personal protective equipment, such as masks, visors and gloves for NHS staff.
-MSN

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jessie Reyez
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Adam Sandler, Russell Wilson, Ciara, Marcus Mumford
• “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS/CTV): Anna Faris, Michael Peña, Lou Sanders (R)
• “Conan” (TBS): Jesse Eisenberg
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Day of Hot Topics
• “The Talk” (CBS): Terry Crews
• “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC/CTV): Uzo Aduba, Bethenny Frankel, Max
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS): John Cena, Sho Madjozi (R)
• “Garth & Trisha Live!” (CBS): Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood perform an intimate concert live at their home recording studio.
• “Survivor” (CBS): With the old-school players living on Edge of Extinction, it’s merge time for the new-school castaways.
• “David Blaine: The Magic Way” (ABC): Magician David Blaine performs reality-defying magical acts; appearances by Odell Beckham Jr., Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Dave Chappelle, James Corden, Bryan Cranston, David Dobrik, Dr. Dre and Jamie Foxx

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Drake — has shared the first pictures of his two-year-old son Adonis with fans. He rarely talks about the boy – whom he has with former adult movie star Sophie Brussaux – publicly. He accompanied the post with an empowering message, in which he called for everyone to ”connect to your inner light”.
• Sam Smith — is renaming and delaying their [***CORRECT***] upcoming third album, because the original name – “To Die For” – ”doesn’t feel right” amid the current coronavirus pandemic. In an Instagram post, Smith wrote: “I have come to the decision to continue working on the album and make some important changes and additions.”
• American Idol – Producers have had to give up on their efforts to continue with the show in studio despite the pandemic. Reportedly, the plan now is to produce the show with the judges at their respective homes and viewers will ultimately decide who wins.
• The 1975 — have once again postponed the release date of their album “Notes on a Conditional Form”, likely due to the coronavirus pandemic. The band has posted the new date — May 22nd — to their social media accounts, along with a new design for the album cover and a full 22-song tracklist.
• Jon Bon Jovi — believes that his 17-year-old son Jacob fought off a “mild version” of the coronavirus. He told a reporter that his family has been together for 15 days, during which, “Jake had a mild version of it, just the intestinal kind.”
• Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood – have announced that they are donating $1 million to coronavirus-related charities and relief efforts ahead of tonight’s televised live concert from their home recording studio.
• Dierks Bentley – will be among the performers for “ACM Presents: Our Country”, a two-hour television special in place of the rescheduled 2020 ACM Awards on April 5. Also taking part: Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Old Dominion, Brandi Carlile, plus Kane Brown and John Legend will perform together, as will Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, and Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker.
• Kenny Rogers — shot to the top of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in the days following his death. His 2018 greatest hits album “The Best of Kenny Rogers: Through the Years” currently sits at #1.

A NOVEL WAY TO DETECT CORONAVIRUS:
While extensive testing for the novel coronavirus is a crucial weapon against the pandemic, the problem is that there aren’t enough test kits to go around. But what if dogs could be trained to sniff out people who are infected? The charity Medical Detection Dogs has partnered with Durham University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on a trial to see if dogs can sniff out COVID-19 patients. MDD have already trained dogs to detect malaria, cancer and Parkinson’s. If the trial is successful, dogs could be used to sniff out potential carriers within large groups of people. Results would then be verified by an actual COVID19 test. The dogs could be ready in six weeks if the trial is successful.
(The only problem I can see is that you can’t find a large group of people these days…)
-NYPost

FAKE NEWS:
Have you seen those conspiracy theories popping up in your social media feeds? Stories that claim COVID-19 was engineered in a lab as part of a biological attack on the United States have been showing up more and more online in recent weeks. Well, you can put your mind at ease, because a new study on the origins of the virus has concluded that the pandemic-causing strain developed naturally. An analysis of the evidence, according to the findings first published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine, shows that the novel coronavirus “is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus,” with the researchers concluding “we do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible.”
(And if you HAVEN’T read any conspiracy theories about COVID-19, your Facebook friends just aren’t as weird as mine!)
(But you have to admit that it’s something that someone who would fake a moon landing just might do!)
(Could someone explain to me then, if it were an attack on the US, why they wouldn’t START the virus in America?)
-ABC

VERY SPECIAL DELIVERY:
In a Lebanese town under lockdown due to the novel coronavirus, three teens came up with a way to keep the pandemic from putting a damper on Mother’s Day, which is celebrated there in March. The trio worked together to offer a service where for $6-$13US depending on location, they would send a red rose to surprised Moms – via drone. Customers were alerted via text to bring their family out to the balcony to receive the flower, which arrived in a ring hanging under the aircraft. And in addition to cheering up mothers in lockdown, the service had a charitable angle as well. All proceeds from the drone project were donated to the Red Cross.
($6-13, huh? By my calculation, for a dozen, they’d pay about the same there as we do here!)
(Guess what? When this is all over, you still owe Mom brunch!)
-QuiteInteresting

NON-CORONAVIRUS NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEK:
➢ A new study has confirmed that electric cars really do produce less CO2 pollution, even when factoring in manufacturing emissions. (Unless you get your electricity from the coal-burning plant across town!)
➢ We have successfully allowed the ozone hole above Antarctica to heal, reversing troubling changes in southern air currents.
➢ Astronomers may have just found the very edge of the Milky Way, much further away than expected.
➢ A newly discovered raptor (Dineobellator notohesperus) hunted with the terrifying agility of a cheetah.
➢ An early ancestor of modern animals was discovered in outback Australia. It is described as “a sluggish, rice grain-sized blob”. (I’m pretty sure you’d find the same thing under my couch cushions…)
-ScienceAlert

DID YOU KNOW?
As many of us adjust to a new work schedule from home, the typical approach to office attire has taken a decidedly more casual turn. These days, many workers and students are now congregating online in virtual meeting rooms, where attendees on webcam are usually shown from the chest-up. This might explain Walmart’s recent uptick in sales of shirts and blouses, with no corresponding increase in sales of pants and bottoms.
-NYPost

BS CHRONOMETER 04.01.20

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1948 [72] Jimmy Cliff [James Chambers], St James Jamaica, reggae singer (‘I Can See Clearly Now’, ‘Reggae Night’)/Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2010

1961 [59] Susan Boyle, Blackburn Scotland, pop singer (‘Wild Horses’)/TV talent show contestant (“Britain’s Got Talent” 2009)

1973 [47] Rachel Maddow, Castro Valley CA, TV host/political commentator (“The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC)

1982 [38] Taran Killam, Culver City CA, TV actor (“Saturday Night Live” 2010-16, “Single Parents” since 2018)

1986 [34] Hillary Scott, Nashville TN, country singer (Lady Antebellum-‘Need You Now’, ‘What if I Never Get Over You’)

1995 [25] Logan Paul, Westlake OH, internet personality (Vine, YouTube)/actor/singer

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “April Fool’s Day”. Many say the custom of playing practical jokes on this day originated with the reform of the calendar when “New Year’s Day” was moved from April 1 to January 1. Those who clung to the old “New Year’s Day” were scoffed at as ‘fools’ and sent fake party invitations and prank gifts. That tradition began in France around 1564, where an ‘April Fool’ is called a ‘poisson d’avril’ (April fish).

• “St Stupid’s Day”, an annual celebration on April 1st in San Francisco CA since 1980, when a wacky parade is held. The occasion’s dim-witted activities include the ‘high four’ handshake (hand up, palm towards partner, fold thumb across palm, slap high four, say “Ouch!”).
NET: http://saintstupid.com/menu.html

• “International Tatting Day”, celebrating the technique of handcrafting lace by using a series of knots and loops. (You can never have too many doilies, right?)

• “One Cent Day”, celebrating the world’s most useless currency … the penny. It now costs 1.99 cents to manufacture a penny in the U.S. Countries that no longer use the penny (or its equivalent) include Australia, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden.

• “International Edible Book Festival” (through the 5th), the annual event when edible books are exhibited, then tea/coffee is served and the books are consumed. Books are made from all manner of foodstuffs – chocolate, beets, bologna, toast, liver, etc.
NET: http://www.books2eat.beatricecoron.com

• “Boomer Bonus Day”, a day where Baby Boomers (people born right after WWII) get a special price on their purchases. It’s a nice way to say “Senior prices.”

COMING UP . . .
[Thurs] International Children’s Book Day
[Thurs] World Autism Awareness Day
[Fri] American Circus Day
[Fri] National Walk to Work Day

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1979 [41] Cartoon character ‘Bart Simpson’ is born (according to several sources), but he’s perennially aged 10, according to “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
2008 [12] YouTube tricks users with the popular bait-and-switch prank called ‘Rickrolling’ by featuring video links that actually lead to Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ music video. Several other websites have the same idea, creating an unintentional, internet-wide April Fools’ joke.

2012 [08] Taylor Swift wins her second consecutive ‘Entertainer Of the Year’ award at the 47th Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas NV

2016 [04] Guns N’ Roses announce that original members Slash and Duff McKagan are returning to the group to join Axl Rose on the “Not In This Lifetime” tour. The tour lasts through 2018, grossing an estimated $562 million

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1976 [44] Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne found “Apple Computer” in the garage of Jobs’ parents house in Cupertino, California

2001 [19] Netherlands becomes the first country in the world to make same-sex marriage legal

2004 [16] Google introduces “gmail” to the public (at the time, many think it is an April Fools joke)

BULL’S BITS

BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ There are only two countries with names that begin with “The” (The Gambia and The Bahamas).
✓ Africa and Asia are home to nearly 90 percent of the world’s rural population.
✓ The world’s entire population could fit inside Los Angeles.
✓ There are more twins now than ever before (percentage-wise).
✓ People who are currently alive represent about 7 percent of the total number of people who have ever lived.
✓ Facebook has more users than the populations of the U.S., China, and Brazil combined.
-BestLife

Best of BS . . .
BS SIGNS YOU WERE PRANKED LAST APRIL FOOL’S DAY:
• Still have a chipped tooth from trying to roll up the rim on your travel mug.
• You ended up married to Ashton Kutcher.
• To thwart the office jokester, you’ve already Jell-O-molded your stapler.
• You’re still trying to pick up that quarter that’s glued to the lunchroom floor.
• There’s no way you’re falling for that “don’t worry it’s free parking downtown” joke again!
• You’re pretty sure you’ll never, ever forget the taste of Nutella and Ex-lax.
• Pants-optional bus service sounded totally believable!
-First published in BS in 2019

TODAY’S SCOOP OF BS:
➠ A study determined that we spend an average of $75-$100 on fuel per year driving in the wrong direction. (Whatever. Small price to pay for not stopping to ask for directions like a Nancy-boy.)
➠ Prince Charles has recovered from the coronavirus. (Needless to say, when the doctor gave him the good news, he was All Ears!)
➠ A woman was recently scarred-for-life and hospitalized after an allergic reaction to a henna tattoo. (As if being a fan of Renaissance Fairs wasn’t bad enough on its own, now THIS!)
➠ Researchers recently found that pigs are slightly less intelligent than humans. (The study has a margin of error of plus-or-minus Pete Davidson.)
➠ Today is April Fools’ Day. (You can tell its April Fool’s Day here at the the station because everyone is constantly on guard wondering if I’m going to do something awful to them. Unlike every other day when they KNOW I am!)

BS WEB GOODIE:
The hazards of working from home:  https://tinyurl.com/vpds28j

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
(created by an 11-year-old who is housebound during the pandemic…)
• Which is NOT a vegetable?
a) Carrot
b) Green bean
c) Eggplant (CORRECT)
d) Beet

• How old is the oldest person in the world right now?
a) 117 (CORRECT)
b) 109
c) 123
d) 132

• Where was bread invented?
a) Egypt (CORRECT)
b) France
c) Spain
d) Japan

• How many “Back to the Future” movies are there?
a) One
b) Two
c) Three (CORRECT)
d) Four
-Buzzfeed

BS RANDOM JOKE:
It’s my 14th day at home and the dog is looking at me like, “See? This is why I chew the furniture.”

BS PHONE STARTER:
What is the best prank that you’ve been the victim of?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question:  Our spouse is our favorite April Fool’s Day prank victim. According to a survey, who is #10?
Answer:  Our pet!

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Not only must we be good, we must also be good for something.