Friday, April 6, 2007 Edition: #3504
You’re Up to Your Eyeballs in Sheet!
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
SUNDAY “The Sopranos” final 9 episodes begin (HBO/Movie Network/Movie Central) as the show concludes its 6th and final season (the debut episode on HBO is followed by the return of “Entourage”, which has a new 20-episode run planned) . . . Actress Halle Berry says she will be going bald for her role in the upcoming movie, “Nappily Ever After”, her character opting to shave all her hair off due to a ‘bad event’ (a stay in rehab maybe?) . . . Bernie Mac is behind a new reality TV show pilot called “Welcome to the Family” (NBC) that will follow couples who come from different religious, ethnic & cultural backgrounds as they meet each other’s families for the first time . . . Forensic TV drama “Bones” (FOX/Global) will attempt to jumpstart ratings by launching an interactive murder mystery online (MySpace/Fox.com) allowing users the chance to participate in solving the case . . . 69-year-old movie actor Anthony Hopkins (“Silence of the Lambs “) says he’s packing it in, insisting it will take a hugely tempting movie offer to convince him to work again (ironically his final scheduled film, due out NEXT YEAR, is entitled “The Last Station”) . . . Rocker Tommy Lee has moved back in with ex-wife Pamela Anderson while his own home nearby is being renovated (but word is they maintain separate bedrooms) . . . 63-year-old movie actor Ben Kingsley (“Ghandi”) is set to take a 4th whack at being married, this time to 32-year-old actress Daniela Barbosa, who uses the acting name Daniela Lavender (and will now be using the ol’ geezer to further her career) . . . Britney Spears has apparently fallen for another musical bad-boy, singer/songwriter Howie Day (“Collide”), whom she met in Promises rehab facility where he’s still a resident (word has it she’ll show him off at her cousin’s wedding THIS SUMMER) . . . And actress Jessica Alba has reportedly split with boyfriend Cash Warren, whom she met on the set of “Fantastic 4” in 2005, and she’s now rumored to be dating Bille Woodruff, who directed her in the 2003 film “Honey” (why don’t these people ever date outside the biz?).
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• AFI – TOMORROW they’re the musical guests on “Saturday Night Live”, hosted by actor Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”).
• Alicia Keys – She discovered marathon running while training for her movie role in “Smoking Aces” and has became so hooked she actually traveled to Greece to run the original marathon route.
• Aqualung – TONIGHT the Brit singer/songwriter (“Pressure Suit”) guests on “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS).
• Hilary Duff – TODAY she’s a guest on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CityTV).
• John Legend – TONIGHT he performs on the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC/A Channel).
• The Killers – TONIGHT they kick off a 3-week mini-tour in Santa Barbara CA. They’ll play a blend of auditoriums, arenas, and outdoor amphitheaters through APRIL 29th in Boston MA.
• Mariah Carey – Rumor has it she’s planning to jump on the foreign child adoption bandwagon after she was recently spotted visiting the Casa de Ninos orphanage in Tepic, Mexico with her lawyer. It’s unclear if she’s waiting for one to become available that matches her favorite outfit.
• Redman – TONIGHT the “Put It Down” rapper is a guest on “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” (CBS).
• Whitney Houston – At least she made one smart move when she wed loser Bobby Brown 14 years ago: Insisting on an iron-clad pre-nup which will give her sole custody of her teen daughter Bobbi Kristina, plus relieve her of financial obligations to her ex- when the divorce is finalized later THIS MONTH.
TODAY’S MOVIE OPENING:
“Grindhouse” ( R-Rated Horror Thriller ): Directors Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez have teamed up for this back-to-back 2-picture homage to the seedy, 1970s-era movie theaters that featured lurid, low-budget films typically from the zombie, slasher and blaxploitation genres. Tarantino’s “Death Proof” stars Kurt Russell as a serial killing maniac who stalks beautiful women. Rosario Dawson co-stars. Rodriquez directs “Planet Terror”, an over-the-top tale of a small town trying to survive an outbreak of zombies. The cast includes Rose McGowan & Josh Brolin. Fake trailers by the likes of Eli Roth & Rob Zombie for phony movies are also featured. Dartmouth NS indie filmmaker Jason Eisener’s fake trailer for “Hobo With a Shotgun” will screen as an opening act in Canadian theaters.
NET: http://www.grindhousemovie.net/
NO FOLDING REQUIRED:
YESTERDAY Google unveiled new tools for making ‘Map Mashups’ online, personalized maps created by users that can assemble information from a variety of sources. The newly-created specialized maps can then be stored in Google’s search index for personal use or for others to access. The new technology will allow users to share their insights about their neighborhoods, favorite vacation spots, apartment listings, local sports stadiums, etc. (Perfect for sandlot football games: “Okay, go down to this dead oak tree here and cut left; then head across the field toward this rotting squirrel carcass and …”)
– AP Business
MAKING FITNESS MORE FUN:
THIS WEEK at the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association convention in San Francisco CA several new and unusual exercise machine technologies were unveiled. Among them, a Motivatrix machine that emulates the once-popular “Pac-Man” videogame. A video screen on the running machine depicts a runner fleeing from attacking ‘ghosts’, thereby encouraging the user to pick up the pace. There’s also a new line of Nautilus machines that include an MP3 player that changes music based on the user’s heart rate. (Around here, we still get motivated the old fashioned way … a vicious trainer with a whip.)
– “San Francisco Chronicle”
E-DOSE:
A new hi-tech pillbox called the ‘Med-eMonitor’ alerts patients when it’s time to take their pills, typically by playing a song. Then, if they miss a dose or take the wrong medication, the device automatically sends a message to an Internet site and patients receive a check-up call from a health official. The system, which costs about $60 per month, will be on the market within a few weeks. Studies have shown that less than 50% of people, seniors in particular, take their medication as prescribed. (Thereby cutting into pharmaceutical companies’ multi-trillion-dollar profits.)
– “The Tennessean”
BS INTERNATIONAL MOOS:
• In Romania, a 105-year-old Iasi man has made his first-ever trip to a doctor. The problem? He’d been complaining of stomach pains for 2 days. The diagnosis? Indigestion. The cause? Eating an entire jar of gherkin pickles past their ‘best-before’ date.
• In China, cops in Shenyang used an innovative technique to arrest a suicidal murder suspect perched on an 8th-floor window ledge. A reporter was asked to distract the man while firefighters raised a ladder and then used a high-pressure water cannon to knock him off the ledge. He fell the 80 ft onto an air cushion below and was arrested on-the-spot.
• In Britain, a Newcastle Baptist church pastor has banned kids under 12 from TODAY’s “Good Friday” service because he says it’ll be too violent. The “Easter” story is not pretty, he says, and shouldn’t be sentimentalized with ‘eggs and fluffy chickens’. Among his plans for the observance: Showing clips from Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ”.
DID YOU KNOW?
There’s no nutritional value to ingesting the ashes of a cremated relative, according to Sang-Hee Lee, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California at Riverside. But the practice is common to the primitive Yanomamo tribe in the Amazon rainforest.
BS CHRONOMETER 04.06.07
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1937 [70] Merle Haggard, Bakersfield CA, country legend with 38 #1 hits (“Okie from Muskogee”, “If We Make It Through December”)
1942 [65] Barry Levinson, Baltimore MD, movie producer/director (Academy Award-“Rain Man”, “Diner”)
1973 [34] Markku Lappalainen, Agoura Hills CA, rock bassist (Hoobastank-“The Reason”)
1975 [32] Zach Braff, South Orange NJ, TV actor (‘Dr John Dorian’ on “Scrubs” since 2001)
SATURDAY –
Movie actor James Garner (“The Notebook”) is 79; Movie director Francis Ford Coppola (“Apocalypse Now”) is 68; Pop singer John Oates (Hall & Oates) is 58; Movie actor Jackie Chan (“Rush Hour”) is 53; Movie actor Russell Crowe (“A Good Year”) is 43.
SUNDAY –
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is 69; Movie actress Robin Wright Penn (“Breaking & Entering”) is 41; TV actress Patricia Arquette (“Medium”) is 39.
BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Ex-Spouse’s Day”, a day of recognition of your ex- as someone who, at least at one point in your life, was a very important person.
• “Good Friday”, observed since about 100 AD. There are few explanations as to why it’s known as ‘Good’ Friday since it commemorates a sorrowful time in Christianity. It’s a legal national holiday in Canada, the UK, and Australia, but not in the USA where it varies state-by-state.
• “Plan Your Epitaph Day”, one of 2 annually that are dedicated to the proposition that a forgettable gravestone is a fate worse than death. So what would you like yours to say?
NET: http://www.hardiehouse.org/epitaph/index.html
• “Walk to Work Day”, observed annually on the first FRIDAY of APRIL. If you’re like 60 miles away, walk during lunch time or another time of the day instead. The goal is to walk 30 minutes a day to ease stress and get into shape. (Perfect day for it in Canada … a holiday.)
SATURDAY –
• “Hug Your Newsman/Newsperson Day”, in the figurative sense, of course. It’s just a day of appreciation.
• “No Housework Day”. No dishes, no cleaning, no taking out trash … and no guilt!
• “Spamarama”, the 29th annual festival honoring the pandemonious potted pork in Austin TX, featuring the ‘Spam Cook-off‘, the ‘Spamalympics Competition’ and the ‘Spam Jam Concert’.
NET: http://www.spamarama.org
• “World Health Day”, the World Health Organization’s annual day to highlight public health issues of worldwide concern.
NET: http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2007/en/index.html
SUNDAY –
• “Easter Sunday”, the most joyous occasion in Christianity. The date varies each year but always falls on the Sunday following the Full Moon on or after the Vernal Equinox. Since 326 AD, it’s been marked on 1 of the 35 dates between March 22nd to April 25th. Before that, it was celebrated either on or just after the 1st day of the Jewish “Passover” or on the Sunday closest to it.
• “International Feng Shui Awareness Day” (‘fung schway’), celebrating the oriental ‘art of placement’ in which architecture and interiors are situated to blend with their surroundings in order to create greater harmony. It may sound exotic, but virtually every skyscraper being built these days receives input from a feng shui master.
TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
1886 [121] City of Vancouver is incorporated
1896 [111] 1st modern ‘Olympic Games’ begin in Athens (James Connolly of Boston wins 1st event … the hop, skip & jump)
1938 [69] ‘Teflon’ coating accidentally invented by Du Pont researcher Roy Plunkett (how do they get it to stick to the pans?)
1973 [34] 1st ‘Designated Hitter’ in Major League Baseball, NY Yankee Ron Blomberg
1980 [27] 1st ‘Post-It Notes’ (a M product)
AND REMEMBER . . .
[Mon] Chicken Little Awareness Day
[Mon] Name Yourself Day
[Mon] Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
[Mon] Toronto Blue Jays home opener
[Mon] Easter Monday
[Tues] Siblings Day
[Tues] Salvation Army Founders Day
[Tues] Golfers Day
[Wed] Barbershop Quartet Day
This Week Is … Golden Rule Week
This Month Is … Knuckles Down Month (celebrating the grand old game of marbles)
BULL’S BITS
EASTER FACTS:
• The custom of giving eggs at Easter time has been traced back to Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans, to whom the egg was a symbol of life.
• The traditional art of Easter Egg painting is Ukrainian; it’s called ‘Pysanka’.
• In medieval times, a festival of egg-throwing was held in church, during which the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choir boys. It was then tossed from one to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was declared the winner and got to keep the egg.
• Easter Bonnets are a throwback to the days when people denied themselves the pleasure of wearing finery for the duration of Lent.
• The first Easter Baskets were made to look like bird nests, thus explaining today’s use of fake ‘Easter grass’.
EASTER BUNNY MOVIES:
5 seasonal or bunny-themed movies to rent THIS WEEKEND …
• “Easter Parade”, starring Judy Garland & Fred Astaire (1948).
• “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd & Joanna Cassidy (1988).
• “Harvey”, starring James Stewart, Josephine Hull & Victoria Horne (1950).
• “Alice in Wonderland”, in various versions. One starred WC Fields, Cary Grant & Gary Cooper (1933). An animated version featured Kathryn Beaumont & Ed Wynn (1951).
• “Bugs Bunny”, the animated star appeared in the long-running WB Looney Tunes series (since 1938) that’s available in several compilations.
BS ‘FINISH LINES’:
Have a phone contestant (kids work great!) attempt to finish the following lines from traditional Easter songs …
•”Here comes Peter Cottontail. Hoppin’ down the bunny trail … [… Hippity hoppity, Easter’s on its way.”]
• “In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it … [… You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.”]
• “If you have no daughters, Give them to your sons … [… One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns.”]
• “He’s got jelly beans for Tommy, Colored eggs for sister Sue … [… There’s an orchid for your mommy, And an Easter bonnet too.”]
BS LAST-MINUTE INTERVIEW:
Keep this on file for unexpected guests that you haven’t had time to research …
• Describe yourself in 3 words.
• What talent do you wish you had?
• What would you never do again?
• Who would you most like to pat on the back and why?
• What do you always have in your pockets?
• Whose posters did you have on your wall when you were growing up?
• What was your best subject at school?
• What do you most like in a sandwich?
• If pets look like their owners, what would you have?
• What are your 3 most precious possessions?
BS RANDOM JOKE:
What’s the difference between the Easter bunny and a lumberjack? One chews and hops, the other hews and chops.
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: According to a recent survey, we lose THESE more often than anything else.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Passwords.
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Love and eggs are best when they are fresh.
Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-discriminatory and gender-neutral celebration of the holiday weekend within the religious or secular tradition of your choice. See ya Monday!