Thursday, December 1, 2011       Edition: #4642
Bully For You!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
Pamela Anderson has put her Malibu, California property up for rent for (whoa!) $20,000-a-week because she’s ‘traveling so much’ and spending a lot more time in her native Canada (BS translation: She hasn’t had a movie role since 2008 and that was in the epic “Blonde & Blonder”) . . . “Livin’ La Vida Loca” singer Ricky Martin is in talks to join the cast of “Glee” (FOX) in an as-yet-unknown number of episodes as a Spanish teacher with a love for music (this may make us long for the Gwyneth Paltrow days!) . . . 22-year-old party-girl Paulina Gretzky, daughter of NHL hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, has informed her 24,000 Twitter followers she’s taking a break from social media, apparently after a talk from daddy about numerous provocative images she’s posted (she’s been digitally ‘grounded’) . . . ABC-TV has assured fans its new drama “Pan Am” has not been ‘grounded’ despite star Karine Vanasse’s hints that it’s facing the ax (odds are it’ll crash in January, after they finish airing episodes that are in the can) . . . Actor Neil Patrick Harris has shot down speculation he’s set to replace newly-retired Regis Philbin as Kelly Ripa’s co-host on syndicated talk show “Live With Kelly”, due to contractual obligations with “How I Met Your Mother” (now that they’ve dumped Regis’ name from the title, we’re betting on an extended period of guest co-hosts) . . . Supermodel Gisele Bundchen has been named the ‘Best Green International Celebrity’ at the annual “Green Awards” in London, thanks to her involvement as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Environment Program (runner-up Paul McCartney is no doubt green with envy) . . . Zooey Deschanel tells “Stylist” magazine that TV show “New Girl” (FOX) has become her life, with so much time devoted to working on scripts, memorizing lines, and working on her character that she hasn’t even ‘been to the grocery store in months’ (a rare peek into the rigors of series TV) . . . And 28-year-old Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr tells “Chelsea Lately” that she recently bought her actor-husband Orlando Bloom silk boxer shorts to help him .. er .. ‘get into character’ (you’re married to a supermodel and you need props to get in the mood? Pitiful.)

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “CMA Country Christmas” (ABC) – Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles hosts this 2-hour holiday special featuring performances by Amy Grant, Brad Paisley w/Brian Setzer, Darius Rucker, Faith Hill, Keith Urban w/Little Big Town, Kellie Pickler, Lauren Alaina, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Scotty McCreery, and Vince Gill with … Miss Piggy.
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – U2’s Bono; She & Him (“A Very She & Him Christmas”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CHCH) – The Civil Wars (“Barton Hollow”).
• “Keep a Child Alive With Alicia Keys” (Showtime) – Premiere of the singer’s new documentary that highlights the plight of HIV and AIDS sufferers in South Africa. She tours sites in both Johannesburg and Durban to point out how her charitable organization helps locals.
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Cee-Lo Green (“The Lady Killer”); Delta Spirit (“History From Below”). Rerun.
• “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Dum Dum Girls (“Only in Dreams”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS/NTV/Omni1) – Classic rocker Peter Gabriel (“New Blood”) in his first US TV performance in a decade. Rerun.
• “National Christmas Tree Lighting” (Washington DC) – Carson Daly hosts the 89th festivities from the Ellipse outside the White House. Performers include Kermit the Frog, OneRepublic, Rodney Atkins, and will.i.am. Webcast live at 4:30 pm EST; broadcast on PBS beginning Friday.
NET: http://www.thenationaltree.org
• “The Rosie Show” (OWN) – Gloria Estefan (“Miss Little Havana”). Rerun.
• “A Russell Peters Christmas” (CTV) – This ‘irreverent twist on the Christmas special’ features comedian Jon Lovitz, crooner Michael Bublé, and Pamela Anderson … as the ‘Virgin Mary’.
• “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC/CTV2) – T-Pain (“RevolveR”).
• “Wendy Williams” (syndicated) – T.I. (“Trouble Man”, due in 2012).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Beyoncé – She & Jay-Z may be set to receive an extra-special present this Christmas. The expectant mother has revealed she’s due to give birth this month, 2 months earlier than widely reported.
• Hanson – The ‘90s boy-band brothers are set to become the latest to break into the celebrity booze industry by marketing their own brand of beer called ‘MMMhop IPA’. (Sometimes you just know when something’s not gonna work.)
• Justin Bieber – New stats show he was the most-searched celebrity overall on the Bing online search engine in 2011, although he only made it to #9 in his native Canada.
• Lady Gaga – Tonight her new video “Marry The Night” premieres on E! network. It’s the first video she’s directed completely on her own.
• Lynyrd Skynyrd – Today they open their 1st restaurant, Lynyrd Skynyrd BBQ & Beer, in the Excalibur Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. A week-long celebration featuring a series of concerts leads up to the official grand opening on December 8th.
• Mindy McCready – Authorities in Lee County, Florida have given her until 5 pm today to surrender her son … or face arrest. The former country music star apparently took her 5-year-old from his father’s home in Cape Coral and disappeared. McCready’s mother actually has official custody of the boy following bitter divorce proceedings.
• My Morning Jacket – Tonight a new leg of tour dates in support of their latest album “Circuital” starts in Los Angeles. The trek wraps December 14th at NYC’s Madison Square Garden.
• Taylor Swift – How’s she getting into the holiday spirit? Apparently by crafting. She’s been using old mason jars to create homemade snow-globes with friends. She calls them ‘Christmas in a jar, with glitter’.
• T.I. – He credits Eminem with helping him kick his drug addiction, telling “Billboard” magazine that he reached out to Em’ for advice when he feared he was addicted to painkillers in 2010.
• U2 – Fans can vote on which songs they’d like to appear on the upcoming limited-edition 2-CD live album, “U22”. The 22 selections are being culled from 46 tracks played during the “U2-360 Tour”. Here’s the catch … in order to vote, you must become a subscriber to U2.com.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
A BS selection of movies in the making …
• “The Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking” – Filming is set to re-start in Montréal on December 28th after the production shut down last month due to financial issues. The 3rd film in the sci-fi franchise finds ‘Riddick’ (Vin Diesel) fighting for survival against alien predators.
• “Kill Your Darlings” – ‘Harry Potter’ actor Daniel Radcliffe is set to play legendary 1940s-50s ‘Beat Generation’ poet Allen Ginsberg in this new movie that focuses on his relationship with novelist Jack Kerouac and writer/editor Lucien Carr. Chris Evans has the role of Kerouac.
• “Les Miserables” – Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift, and Lea Michele (“Glee”) are competing for a role in the bigscreen adaptation of the hit musical, which already has Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway in the cast. The film’s expected to start shooting early next year with a planned December 2012 release.
• “The Snowman” – After releasing the kid-fare “Hugo”, filmmaker Martin Scorsese is returning to the crime genre with this adaptation of Norwegian author Jo Nesbo’s novel about a serial killer who always leaves behind a snowman at the scene of his crimes. The film’s due in 2013.
• “Summer Crossing” –  27-year-old Scarlett Johansson admits her first directorial project will be a ‘hard sell’. The adaptation of Truman Capote’s 1st novel is set in 1945 NYC and follows a young couple’s controversial interfaith affair. The 2014 film will feature a no-name cast.
• “This Is Forty” – Judd Apatow’s new comedy features Paul Rudd & Leslie Mann reprising their roles from the 2007’s “Knocked Up”. Chris O’ Dowd (“Bridesmaids”) and Jason Segal (“The Muppets”) co-star as rivals who fight over Megan Fox. The film’s due in December 2012.

FENG SHUI TIPS FOR HOLIDAY DECORATIONS:
Occasional “BS” contributor Robin Bentley offers the following advice for creating a more stress-free holiday season …
• Get the Red Out – The color red and holiday lights add the element of ‘fire’ to your home, which can create an ‘illness energy’. Other holiday colors like silver, gold, and white are less intense.
• Overcome Your Obstacles – If you have to step over it, duck under it, or squeeze by it, it’s going to add more stress to your holiday. Too much clutter makes energy flow in your home slow down.
• Tap Into Your Childhood – Go through old photos of when you were a kid and all excited about the holidays. Use a color copier to enlarge them into mini-posters to display as part of your holiday decorations.
• Lights Out At Bedtime – To enable your body to manufacture the right amount of melatonin for better sleep and a more positive mood, make sure you’re sleeping in the dark without holiday lighting displays left on.
– FengShuiDiva.com

‘BOT SCREWS:
Robot guards are about to join the ranks of South Korea’s prison service. A jail in the eastern city of Pohang plans to run a month-long trial of the automatons next March. The machines will monitor inmates for abnormal behavior. A total of 3 robots that will be involved in the prison trial have been developed by the Asian Forum for Corrections, a South Korean group of researchers who specialize in prison policy. The ‘bots move on 4 wheels and are equipped with cameras and other sensors that will allow them to detect risky behavior. (They’re also harder to bribe.)
– BBC News

EXTINCT SOUNDS:
Not only plant and animal life can vanish, many noises and sounds are disappearing from the face of the Earth. Depending on your age, you (or your kids or grandchildren) may have only heard some of the following sounds in old movies, if at all …
• Rotary-Dial Telephone
• Manual Typewriter
• Coffee Percolator
• TV Channel Selector
• Record Changer
• Gas Station Driveway Bell
• TV Station Sign-off
• Cash Register
• Film Projector
• Broken Record
(Try playing ‘Name That Sound’ with SFX of some of these.)
– “Mental Floss Magazine”

DID YOU KNOW?
• The evidence for hands as a major route for transmitting cold & flu infection is so strong that scientists at the London School of Hygiene recommend greeting friends the French way, with a peck on the cheek rather than a handshake. Or improvise, according to the situation. The next time someone approaches you with palm outstretched, try an ‘air kiss’ or a ‘manly hug’ instead.
– “Reader’s Digest”
• Entire phrases in English have almost lost their literal meanings because they are so frequently used sarcastically. “Big deal”, for example, which is seldom used literally any more. We’re so wired to detect and interpret sarcasm, scientists now think an inability to understand it may be an early warning sign of brain disease.
– “Smithsonian Magazine”

BS CHRONOMETER 12.01.11