Tuesday, December 12, 2023 – Edition: #7616

Here’s More Bull Roar!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Nominations for the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards were revealed yesterday, kicking awards season into high gear. “Barbie”, the year’s biggest hit, and “Succession”, TV’s most dominant drama, lead all nominees with 9 each. “Oppenheimer” has 8 nods, while “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Poor Things” both have 7. Hulu’s “Only Murders In the Building” tied “The Bear” with 5 nominations, including a record 33rd nom for Meryl Streep. The 2024 Golden Globe Awards ceremony will take place on January 7.
-Deadline
★ Cardi B has confirmed her split from Migos member Offset. After wondering in a recent Instagram Live if her fans had been “getting clues” about the breakup from her posts and who she follows online, Cardi set the record straight, saying in a clip: “I’ve been single for a minute now…I just don’t know how to tell the world.” The Grammy winner noted she’s looking forward to the new year, saying: “I wanna start 2024, like, fresh, open…I’m curious for a new life, for a new beginning. And yeah, I’m excited.” The announcement comes days after fans noticed Cardi and Offset had unfollowed each other on social media. They married in 2017 and have 2 children together.
-E!
★ “Wonka,” opens domestically on Friday, and if box office results in international markets are an indication, Timothée Chalamet looks to have a hit on his hands. The film, telling the story of how the chocolatier ‘Willy Wonka’ honed his ability to satisfy a sweet tooth, opened with a take of $43.2 million to top the international box office. The film debuted over the weekend in 37 markets, including Spain, Germany, Mexico, Japan and the UK. “Wonka’s” $11.1 million start in the latter country is Warner Bros.’ second-biggest opening of the year, just behind “Barbie.” In addition to the US and Canada, Wonka will debut in 39 more markets this weekend.
-Variety
★ Paris Hilton’s baby daughter’s full name and birthday have been revealed. She and her husband, Carter Reum, named the baby London Marilyn Hilton Reum, according to a birth certificate obtained by The Blast. It says the baby was born on her parents’ anniversary, Nov. 11, at 11:43 a.m. at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in LA. Height and weight are not listed on the certificate. Hilton announced the arrival on US Thanksgiving, sharing a picture of a pink shirt that had “London” stitched on it.
-Messenger
★ A big update on the TV adaptation of the iconic cult classic “Cruel Intentions”: “Gossip Girl” star Savannah Lee Smith has been added to the cast. Released in 1999, the original Cruel Intentions film starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon, and followed a web of sexual and psychological warfare between affluent highschoolers. First confirmed in April, the TV version has now officially received a series order from Amazon. Khobe Clarke of “Firefly Lane” fame has also been cast as a regular.
-DigitalSpy
★ James Cameron reflected on the making of “Titanic,” the most expensive film of its time, in an interview with the LA Times for the film’s 4K remastering home video release. The complex engineering and needed to create large sets and sequences contributed to the high cost of making the film. The director noted that “The scale of everything was beyond anything we could imagine…At the time we thought, wow, there’s no way this movie could ever make its money back…Well, guess what?” In addition, Cameron said to save money, he and his team only cast short extras in order to “make the set look bigger”. Quote: “Anybody above five foot eight, we didn’t cast them. It’s like we got an extra million dollars of value out of casting.”
-Variety

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC/Global): Keegan-Michael Key, Charles Melton, Lainey Wilson
• “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Hugh Grant, Sydney Sweeney, Tate McRae
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Taraji P. Henson, Jason Isbell
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): Kate McKinnon, Carmelo Anthony and The Kid Mero
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): Meredith Marks, Kory Keefer
• “The Daily Show” (COM): Guest Host Kal Penn
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Billy Porter
• “The Talk” (CBS): Jeff Lewis, Ally Brooke
• “Live With Kelly and Mark” (ABC/CTV): Sydney Sweeney, Harry Hamlin
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Check local listings): Olivia Rodrigo, Maluma
• “The Drew Barrymore Show” (Check local listings): Tim Sullivan
• “Jennifer Hudson Show” (Check local listings): Tony Shalhoub
• “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (ABC): A mailman (the voice of Fred Astaire) explains why Santa has whiskers, lives at the North Pole and brings presents once a year. Animated.
• “The Great Christmas Light Fight” (ABC): Host Taniya Nayak judges the River of Lights, NYC Winter Lantern Festival, Garden Lights Holiday Nights, and Galaxy Lights Heavyweight displays.
• “The Masked Singer” (Fox): Holiday Sing-Along

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• SZA – Her hit ‘Kill Bill’ is #1 on the list of The 100 Best Pop Songs of 2023, as compiled by the writers of Billboard magazine. The rest of the top 5, in order: ‘What Was I Made For?’ – Billie Eilish; ‘Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53’ — Bizarrap & Shakira; ‘Flowers’ – Miley Cyrus; ‘Paint the Town Red’ – Doja Cat.
• FIFTY FIFTY – The K-poppers’ hit ‘Cupid’ was named 2023’s top song around the world by TikTok. A press release from the site said the song has “over 20 million creations” to its credit.
• Kanye West — Kanye West is teasing the new song ‘Everybody’, which features a sample of Backstreet Boys’ 1997 hit ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’. It is believed the unreleased song will be featured on West’s upcoming collab with Ty Dolla $ign. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/2kd4ctr6
• Twisted Sister – Singer Dee Snider is hinting at a band reunion next year. He said to The Metal Voice: “I wouldn’t be surprised…pretty much all of us are on the same page — and I could see us helping fight the good fight.” He specifically mentioned the upcoming US election, and “women’s right to choose” as issues the group, which was last active in 2016, is concerned about.
• Tom Petty — His 1989 tune ‘Love Is a Long Road’, which was never released as a single, saw a remarkable 8,421% increase in streams after the trailer for “Grand Theft Auto VI” was released. The song, which was used to score the video game promo, saw 4,000-5,000 daily on-demand streams in the US prior to the trailer’s release. That number rocketed to 376,000 on Dec. 5.
• Foo Fighters – Their song ‘Everlong’ has reached one billion streams on Spotify. The 1997 single is the band’s first to reach that milestone on the streaming service. The Foos are currently touring in support of their 2023 album “But Here We Are”.
• Jelly Roll, Carrie Underwood, Cody Johnson, Ashley McBryde and Maddie & Tae – are just a few of the country artists who have stepped up again for the kids of St. Jude – and they hope you will, too. Nearly 200 artists are sporting the 2023 version of the “This Shirt Saves Lives” T-shirt. You get one when you become a Partner in Hope for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which means you’ll be helping children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yz89nmb8
• Jon Pardi – has released a light-hearted, animated video for his song ‘Beer For Santa’. He said of the clip: “It just feels old school and classic, like how you used to watch ‘Rudolph’ and the other holiday cartoons, but with a new and slightly more mature twist on it.” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/4e8xckbc
• John Michael Montgomery – His 24-year-old son Walker Montgomery made his Grand Ole Opry debut on Friday night. Walker, who is also the nephew of Montgomery Gentry’s Eddie Montgomery, performed the title track from his new EP “Work To Do” and his song ‘Tired Of You’. His dad and uncle introduced him.

SHOOTING THE BULL

SCIENTISTS SAY:
❑ The worst possible thing to do when you wake up in the middle of the night is to check the time. And what makes it even worse is if you check the time on your phone. Dr. Biquan Luo, a San Francisco sleep expert, says when this happens to you, stay in bed at first, try to relax, and see if you can fall asleep again. She suggests trying progressive relaxation, breathing exercises, or white noise machines. If you can’t sleep after 10-15 minutes, try going to a quiet spot such as the couch, and read a book or do another calming activity, until you feel sleepy again — then return to bed. And resist the urge to reach for your phone or look at the clock if your sleep is interrupted. Why? Checking the time can increase stress and make it harder to fall back to sleep. And looking at your phone might send you down a rabbit-hole of distractions that can prolong sleep even further. (But if I can’t check the time, how can I complain the next day about what time I woke up — and couldn’t get back to sleep?)
❑ Seeing a co-worker sniffle triggers your body to start preparing to fight illness. Chapman University researchers found that just seeing someone who is sick can trigger a protective response in our bodies. Similar to how our body’s immune system kicks into high gear to fight an infection, this response to another’s illness is our body’s way of preparing to fight off potential threats. The researchers say this shows how interconnected we all are — and how our health can be influenced by those around us. (I wish “wealth” worked the same way!)
-NYPost, StudyFinds

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS:
Are you visiting family over the holidays? You couldn’t get out of it, either, huh? I know, for some people, it’s something they look forward to all year… just like taking a vacation. In the poll of 2,000 US holiday travelers, a third (34%) said they don’t count traveling home for the holidays as a true “vacation.” On the other hand, 71% said they’d likely need a separate vacation afterward to unwind and relax. While some indicated they would find some “me” time while away, to perhaps book a spa day, 6 in 10 still said they’ll likely feel exhausted by the end of the trip. And 43% said that when visiting family, they’ll inevitably end up feeling like they’re being parented as if they were a kid again.
(Which isn’t that bad, if you think about it: Mom keeps making you eat more food, and you get to steal dad’s booze!)
(I don’t know if I’d call visiting family a VACATION – but at least it tends to make me appreciate work more!)
-SWNS

HOME ALONE FOR THE HOLIDAYS:
Some fans of the Christmas movie “Home Alone” are reacting with shock after finding out how much money little ‘Kevin McCallister’ (played by Macaulay Culkin) would have to come up with, if he were to go grocery shopping today. After being left alone for the holidays in the 1990 film, the 8-year-old famously went to the local supermarket, purchasing a large haul of food and household items for under $20. What was on his list? A half gallon of milk, a half gallon of orange juice, a TV dinner, bread, frozen mac and cheese, laundry detergent, cling wrap, toilet paper, a pack of toy army men (“For the kids”) and dryer sheets, which came to a total of $19.83. Someone did the math for the same shopping list last year, and came up with a total of $44.40. This year? Try a whopping $72.28.
(I know! I cannot believe the price of toy army men these days!)
(On the plus side, I’m sure that kid could have figured out how to re-mortgage the house, if he needed to…)
-NYPost

WORST ADVICE:
A Fail Army thread began with the question “What’s the worst advice you ever got?” Here are some of the more memorable answers…
☞ “Eat all your food and you’ll grow up big n strong.”
☞ “He who dares wins” …I dared and lost.
☞ “Work hard and good things will happen.”
☞ “Just do it. What’s the worst that can happen?”
☞ “Trust me, I’m a lawyer.”
☞ “Trust me! I’m your mother!!!”
☞ “Don’t stay single too long, get married, and having kids is fun”.
☞ “When I changed schools (and worried about bullying), my dad said ‘pick the biggest lad and punch him in the face…’ I did just that. Poor Mamoudo was a boarder from Nigeria and huge. He went down with one punch. Everyone hated me for weeks. Poor lad…was 3000 miles from his mum. My dad later said he didn’t think I would do it.”
☞ “It’s ok I’m on the pill”
-FailArmy

DID YOU KNOW?
The baseball world is still reeling from the news of superstar Shohei Ohtani signing a 10-year, $700M deal with the LA Dodgers. Not only is it the largest contract in baseball history (by a mile), it is the most lucrative deal for any professional athlete, anywhere. Here’s a breakdown of his rate of pay: Per year: $70million. Per month: $5.83million. Per week: $1.35million. Per day: $192 thousand. Per hour (based on 40-hour workweek): $7,990.87. Per minute: $133.18. Per second: $2.22. Per game: $432,098.77. (Fortunately, the team has sold half the value of his contract in jerseys and caps in the 3 days since the deal was announced!)
-AS, ClutchPoints

BS CHRONOMETER 12.12.23

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Fresh Breath Day”, if you’re average, you have over 10 billion bacteria in your mouth right now. Some of them churn out truly stinky chemicals such as hydrogen sulphide, the same gas that gives rotten eggs their odor. Some germs release another sulfurous compound that has the essence of rotting meat. (***Ask listeners for old folk remedies for bad breath, like chewing cloves or scraping your tongue with a spoon***)
• “Gingerbread House Day”, time to get at it if you want one in time for the holidays. Also known as “Eat Yourself Out of House and Home Day”.
• “Poinsettia Day”, honoring Dr Joel Roberts Poinsett, the US diplomat to Mexico who introduced the plant to the US in 1825. Now a favorite decoration for the holiday season, about 60 million are grown in North America each year. Though proper pronunciation of the word DOES include the ‘e’ sound prior to the last syllable (poin-SET-ee-uh), many dictionaries now also accept the more commonly used ‘poin-SETTA’ pronunciation.
• “Sound Check Day”. Check one two, one two, one two…First celebrated on the date one two, one two, one two (12/12/12), the occasion is, of course, a play on the date it is held. (Sibilance…sibilance!)
• “National Ambrosia Day”, the mythical “food of the gods,” is a heavenly treat for we mortals at any time of the year. This cool and creamy citrus fruit salad is a light and tasty side dish or dessert.
• “National Ding-a-Ling Day”, a day when celebrants should call people they haven’t seen in years, in order to rekindle old friendships. (So, call up the first person who popped into your head when you heard the word ‘ding-a-ling’…)
AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Cocoa Day
[Wed] Violin Day
[Thurs] Monkey Day
[Fri] Cupcake Day
This Week is…Computer Science Education Week
This Month is…Tie Month

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1940 [83] (Marie) Dionne Warwick, East Orange NJ, pop singer (‘I Say a Little Prayer’, w/Elton John, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder-‘That’s What Friends Are For’)/1990s infomercial host (“Psychic Friends Network”)/cousin of Whitney Houston

1943 [80] (Forrest) Dickey Betts, West Palm Beach, FL, rock guitarist/singer (Allman Brothers-‘Ramblin’ Man’)

1949 [74] Bill Nighy, Caterham, England (“Pirates of the Caribbean” films, “Love Actually”) COMING UP… “Role Play”

1957 [66] Sheila E. (Escovedo), Oakland CA, pop singer/drummer (‘The Glamorous Life’), recorded or performed with Prince, Phil Collins, Beyoncé…/biological aunt to Nicole Richie

1970 [53] Jennifer Connelly, Round Top NY, movie actress (“Top Gun: Maverick”, Oscar-“A Beautiful Mind”)/TV actress (“Snowpiercer” 2020-22)/married to Paul Bettany since 2003

1970 [53] Regina Hall, Washington DC, movie actress (“Scary Movie” films, “Girls Trip”)/TV actress (“Ally McBeal” 2001-02, “Law & Order: LA” 2010–2011)/Oscars co-host, 2022

1975 [48] Mayim Bialik, San Diego CA, TV host (“Jeopardy!” since 2021)/TV actress (‘Amy Farrah Fowler’ on “Big Bang Theory” 2010-19, “Blossom” 1990-1995)

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2001 [22] Winona Ryder is arrested on shoplifting charges in Beverly Hills, California

2016 [07] “Rogue One”, the first of the Star Wars Anthology films (and prequel to 1977’s “Star Wars”), directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, premieres in Los Angeles

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
2003 [20] Rolling Stones’ frontman (Sir) Mick Jagger is knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace (Queen Elizabeth II didn’t want to do it)

2020 [03] Country star Charley Pride dies at 86 of COVID-19 complications

2020 [03] Bad Bunny’s “El Último Tour Del Mundo” hits #1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first album entirely in Spanish to top the chart

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2012 [11] Pope Benedict XVI sends out the first papal tweet through his personal Twitter account, using the handle @pontifex

BULL’S BITS

BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ On average, one square inch of your skin has 60 hairs, 90 oil glands, and 19 feet of blood vessels.
✓ In Chinese, the word for computer literally translates to “electric brain”.
✓ A blind chameleon can still adjust to the colors of its environment.
✓ The suggestion to “drink 8 glasses of water a day” is based on a 1945 recommendation that had no medical basis.
✓ The world’s longest concert lasted 453 hours.
✓ The world record for the loudest thing ever shouted belongs to an Irish teacher. She shouted the word “quiet” at 121 decibels, the equivalent of a jet engine. (Ironic…)
-WomansDay, WTFFacts

Best of BS . . .
BS SIGNS YOU ENJOYED THE OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY A LITTLE TOO MUCH:
• You woke up in court … with your pants on backwards.
• A champagne cork became lodged in your trachea … 6 times.
• You made the front page of the paper for interrupting the church choir practice next door … with your interpretative dancing … while naked.
• The boss was really impressed with your cannonball into the punchbowl.
• Your daily commute now involves a bus ride … to the employment office.
-First published in BS in 2019

MY DOG’S SOCIAL MEDIA:
• Facebook: I like pooping on the rose bush
• X: I’m #poopingontherosebush
• Instagram: Here’s a vintage photo of me pooping on the rose bush
• YouTube: Look at me, I’m pooping on the rose bush!
• LinkedIn: My skills include pooping on rose bushes
• Foursquare: This is where I come whenever I want to poop on a rose bush
• Pinterest: Here’s a design I created using my poop and a rose bush
• Tinder: I like pooping on rose bushes. You?
-First published in BS in 2015

BS WEB GOODIE:
Awkward! (sound up):  https://tinyurl.com/y483mvpr

BS RANDOM JOKE:
I don’t believe flying is as safe as we’ve been led to believe. After all, have you ever seen an old flight attendant?

BS PHONE STARTER:
What trend are you just never going to be on board with?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question:  A survey found THIS is the gift we most often buy in the wrong size. What is it?
Answer:  Gloves

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Be one of those who dared rather than those who merely dream.