Tuesday, February 2, 2021 – Edition: #6906
Guaranteed 100% Grade A Bull!
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ (***UPDATE***) Dustin Diamond, known for playing ‘Samuel “Screech” Powers’ in the sitcom “Saved by the Bell, died on Monday morning following a hospitalization in January. He was 44. Diamond’s death comes just a few weeks after completing his first round of chemo after being diagnosed with stage 4 small cell carcinoma, commonly referred to as lung cancer. After a series of minor TV roles, in 1988, Diamond found his signature character. Cast in “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” he portrayed Screech for 13 episodes. The show would go on to be the basis for “Saved by the Bell,” which Diamond acted in until 1992. As his character aged out of high school, Diamond continued to reprise the role for the franchise in spinoffs, including “Saved by the Bell: The College Years” and “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” the latter of which he starred in for about six years.
-Canoe
★ Mike Myers and Dana Carvey have revived their “Wayne’s World” characters for a new Super Bowl ad. Donning their costumes as ‘Wayne Campbell’ and ‘Garth Algar’, the pair promote Uber Eats in the new spot, while also taking a dig at the year 2020. At one point, Wayne jokes: “2020 man, that was a great year… Not!”, and Garth declares that it “sucked donkey”. The two then spend the rest of the ad referencing “the game” and “big bowl” to avoid copyright infringement of the Super Bowl. This isn’t the first time Wayne and Garth have reunited in the last year. The pair took part in Josh Gad’s “Reunited Apart” series in December, along with other cast members of the classic 1992 film, including Alice Cooper, Lara Flynn Boyle and Ed O’Neill.
LINK: https://tinyurl.com/y2aoh5wa
-NME
★ As ‘Deadpool’, Ryan Reynolds can survive superhuman conditions, but off-screen, he’s still learning. That’s straight from the actor, whose new Snapchat series “Ryan Doesn’t Know” is an education in self-development. On Saturday, the 12-episode series debuted on the social media platform. In the trailer, Reynolds says: “You could fill a gymnasium with all the things I don’t know. So, in the hopes of becoming a less-boring husband and father, I’m meeting up with talented new artists to learn a little about a lot.” With their help, he’ll attempt ice sculpting, floral arranging and even axe throwing, among other things. But rest assured – as Reynolds says: “Whatever I do is going to suck.”
-Yahoo
★ Could he BE any more charming? Matthew Perry went the extra mile to convince Julia Roberts to star in the 1996 post-Super Bowl hour-long episode of “Friends. According to exec producer Kevin Bright, “Matthew asked her to be on the show. She wrote back to him, ‘Write me a paper on quantum physics and I’ll do it.’. Bright went on to say that his understanding is “that Matthew went away and wrote a paper and faxed it to her the next day.” The two started dating soon after Roberts’ appearance on the show.
-PageSix
★ Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have ‘fancied up’ son Archie’s birth certificate — with Markle erasing her first name and both of them adding royal honorifics. The latest copy of the document shows Markle edited the certificate about a month after Archie’s birth on May 6, 2019. She nixed “Rachel Meghan,” and is now listed as “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.” Harry added “Prince” to the document to complete his title of “His Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex”. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, who turns 2 in May, is seventh in line to the throne.
-PageSix
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): Matthew McConaughey, Kathryn Hahn, Rhye
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Drew Barrymore, Talib, Nilüfer Yanya
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Zendaya, Father James Martin
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): David Duchovny, Elizabeth Olsen, Wright Thompson, Matt Cameron
• “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS/CTV): Naomi Watts, FINNEAS
• “Conan” (TBS): Mike Birbiglia
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): Tiffany Moon, Stephanie Hollman
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
• “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC/CTV): David Duchovny, Dr. Uma Naidoo
• “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (NBC/CTV): Rachel Maddow, Kane Lim
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS): Justin Hartley, Nicola Coughlan
• “The Drew Barrymore Show” (CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS): Lilly Singh, Loreal Gavin, Sean Evans
• “To Tell the Truth” (ABC): Celebrity panelists Lil Rel Howery, Adam Rodriguez and Nikki Glaser.
• “Fake Famous” (HBO): Three people in Los Angeles with relatively small social followings attempt to become famous influencers by purchasing fake followers and an army of bots.
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Drake – After Toronto rapper BucksInDaCut shared that his goal for the year is to make more money, and that he currently possessed just $1,300, Drake slid in the comments and wrote, “Yo what’s this mans PayPal I’m doubling that for my guy Bucks B.” And he did. In a second video, Bucks confirmed that Drake sent the funds, and, to his surprise, also paid off his student debt.
• Katy Perry – plans to scale back her shopping, particularly when it comes to clothing. On Instagram Live, she admitted she’s been a “wasteful” consumer of clothes, and was addicted to shopping, but has pledged to herself now to only buy out of necessity, because clothing is “in the top five of the most polluting things for our planet.”
• Joan Jett & the Blackhearts — On Friday, they dropped previously unreleased concert recordings for streaming on the digital platform Nugs.net. The audio and video recordings are from performances in Houston, Texas in 1983, Columbus, Ohio in 2015, and Clisson, France in 2018.
• Wolfgang Van Halen – His musical project “Mammoth WVH” will make their late-night television debut on the Feb. 11th edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live”. The debut single ‘Distance’ in November as a tribute to Wolfgang’s recently deceased father, guitar legend Eddie Van Halen.
• Neil Young — has more archival releases planned. He’ll drop a collection of unreleased ’80s material called “Road of Plenty” sometime this year, and most recently, he has announced another “lost” album, “Johnny’s Island”, recorded in 1982 in Honolulu, which he says is “a beautiful record.”
• Eric Church – his website was hacked by fans, but he doesn’t mind. Days before he revealed the news of his new album “Heart & Soul”, some fans found info about it on his site. Church says “We ended up getting hacked, which is pretty awesome when you think about it. They ended up breaking the news, which is hilarious to me . . . I love the passion.”
• Florida Georgia Line – almost named themselves “Orange Peach”. In the video series “You Think You Know Country?”, Brian Kelly revealed: “We lived together for two years in Nashville…and decided to take this music thing seriously and wanted to represent where we came from. Orange Peach was an early suggestion, then it got moved to Florida Georgia Line.”
• Kris Kristofferson — has apparently retired at the age of 84. The news came as part of a press statement announcing a change of management. It reads: “in the wake of his father’s retirement in 2020, Kristofferson’s son John steps in to oversee all of the family’s business.” Kris’ last album of new material was released in 2013.
SHOOTING THE BULL
EXPENSIVE WEEKND:
News surfaced recently that The Weeknd is putting up $7 million of his own cash toward production costs to make sure that his halftime performance at Sunday’s Super Bowl is one that we won’t soon forget. But his investment actually isn’t even enough to cover the usual cost of one of the most-anticipated annual musical performances of the year. Reportedly, Shakira and JLO’s 2020 appearance cost the NFL (or its half-time sponsor, Pepsi) an astonishing $13 million for a 13-minute show. How does this happen? The NFL foots the bill for props, stagehands, band dues, and production costs. Which means that the 300 drones that Lady Gaga used, or the giant puppet tiger and dancing beach balls that Katy Perry needed were covered by the NFL credit card. And The Weeknd won’t even receive a paycheck from the NFL when his work on Sunday is done. But he will cash in in other ways. After Justin Timberlake’s 2018 half time show, his music sales rose 543%. And Lady Gaga’s 2017 appearance increased her digital sales by over 1,000%.
(Wow. A million dollars per minute. And remember, that’s for what’s supposed to be the “side-show”!)
(On the other hand, a million dollars a minute would be a bargain if we were talking about commercials…)
(I’m guessing Bruce Springsteen didn’t have quite as an elaborate production…)
-TheList
NON-VIDEO CHAT:
A new study gives a really handy excuse to keep your camera “off” during your work Zoom meetings — it’s bad for the environment. Researchers from MIT, Yale, and Purdue University say videoconferencing and streaming high-definition content greatly increases a person’s carbon footprint. They found that just one hour in a video conference or streaming HD shows emits between 150 and 1,000 grams of carbon dioxide. A car burning one gallon of gasoline emits about 9,000 grams of carbon dioxide. That hour in a video call also requires 2-12 liters of water, and demands a land area the size of an iPad Mini. What does computer video have to do with your carbon footprint? The researchers say that data processing uses a lot of electricity. And anything that produces electricity also creates a carbon, water, and land footprint. But by turning the video camera off during a video call, an internet user can reduce their footprint by 96%. Or, by streaming in standard definition instead of HD, emissions can be reduced by about 86%.
(So, basically, we should be having conference calls?)
(Ah. That explains why my co-workers keep telling me to turn off my camera….)
(Well, there you go. Standard definition is my New Year’s “resolution”.)
-StudyFinds
SOME KIND OF “SICK” JOKE:
While the main health concern of most people these days is COVID-19, the flu virus has pulled a disappearing act. The number of people being struck down by flu this season has dropped by 95% in the UK, the lowest level in more than 130 years. A new report shows that in the second week of January – usually the peak of the flu season – the number of flu-like illnesses reported was just 1.1 per 100,000 people. Compare that to a 5-year average rate of 27 per 100,000 people. Both Canada and the US are also reporting influenza activity as being “exceptionally low” for this time of year. Simon de Lusignan – director of the Royal College of GPs research and surveillance centre, which focuses on flu – said influenza has now been “almost completely wiped out”. It is believed that the coronavirus pandemic has played a part in the dramatic fall in numbers, largely because increased hygiene has left flu germs nowhere to go.
(Would you call an expert of this kind of thing an “inFLUencer”?)
(Not to mention the fact that I’m not allowed to go anywhere to get any germs!)
(So if we can contain the spread of flu, why is it we can’t do the same with the coronavirus?)
-TimesofLondon, CDC, Canada
INNOCENT-SOUNDING WORDS WITH SURPRISINGLY NAUGHTY ORIGINS:
(***Caution, of course…***)
➢ Gymnasium: Comes from the Greek word “gumnazein”, which means “to exercise naked.” (Which is ironic, because I have a fear of gyms…and of being naked!)
➢ Mastodon: When 19th century French naturalist Georges Cuvier examined fossilized mastodon teeth, he called them “nipple-like.” He chose the woolly beast’s name from the Greek masto (“breast”) and odont (“tooth”). (So, it doesn’t mean “massive” and “daunting”?)
➢ Partridge: Originates from the Greek verb “perdesthai”, which means “to break wind.” Partridge became the “flatulence bird” because its weight and wing shape cause it to make a low, whirring noise when it takes off. (Remember “The Partridge Family”? Yup.)
➢ Forlorn: Comes from the Old English word “forloren”, which means “depraved, morally abandoned.” To the Anglo-Saxons, if you were forloren, more than just your friends had abandoned you—your very moral fiber had abandoned you, as well.
➢ Punk: Its first recorded use was during Shakespeare’s time. But when he used the word, he wasn’t talking about someone with a mohawk hairdo or a type of music. He was talking about female prostitutes.
➢ Pasta Alla Puttanesca: This is a tasty tomato and anchovy dish. What many of us aren’t aware of is the literal meaning of its name. It literally translates to “pasta in the style of prostitutes.”
➢ Musk: Comes from the Sanskrit word “muṣka”, which translates to “testicle.” While humans tend to associate musk with cologne, animals, such as the male musk deer, use this pungent substance to communicate. (As do co-eds…)
-MentalFloss
DID YOU KNOW?
Groundhogs are also variously referred to as woodchucks, whistle-pigs, or land-beavers. The name whistle-pig comes from the fact that, when alarmed, a groundhog will emit a high-pitched whistle as a warning to the rest of his or her colony. The name woodchuck has nothing to do with wood. Or chucking. It is derived from the Algonquian name for the critters, wuchak.
-ScientificAmerican
BS CHRONOMETER 02.02.21
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1948 [73] Ina Garten, Brooklyn NY, TV chef (“Barefoot Contessa” since 2002, “30 Rock” 2010-11)
1953 [68] Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman, Denver CO, reality star (“Dog the Bounty Hunter” 2003-2012, “Dog and Beth: On the Hunt” 2013-15, “Dog’s Most Wanted” 2019)
1954 [67] Christie Brinkley, Monroe MI, model (the face of “CoverGirl” cosmetics for 25 years)/movie actress (“National Lampoon’s Vacation”, “Vegas Vacation”)/married to Billy Joel 1985-94
1966 [55] Robert DeLeo, Glen Ridge NJ, rock bassist (Stone Temple Pilots-‘Plush’, ‘Interstate Love Song’)
1977 [44] Shakira (Ripoll), Barranquilla Columbia, pop singer (f/Wyclef Jean-‘Hips Don’t Lie’, ‘Whenever, Wherever’) BS FACTOID: Shakira is Arabic for ‘full of grace’.
1988 [33] Zosia Mamet, Randolph VT, TV actress (‘Shoshanna Shapiro’ on “Girls” 2012-2017)
TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Groundhog Day”, an annual tradition that perpetuates the hogwash that a hibernating groundhog prodded from its burrow can forecast 6 more weeks of Winter by seeing its shadow. This annual oddity stems from the Christian celebration of “Candlemas”. An old Scottish poem proclaims, “If Candlemas is fair and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.” In Mexico, today is known as “Dia de la Candelaria”, a big day for bullfights and festivals. (***See “Did You Know?”, above***)
– Canada’s best known groundhog prognosticator is ‘Wiarton Willie’.
– ‘Punxsutawney Phil’ is America’s original forecaster and most famous hog.
NET: http://www.groundhog.org
• “Crêpe Day” (aka “La Chandeleur”) in France, when the traditional thin pancakes are served, filled with either sweet or savory goodies. On this day it’s customary to hold a coin in one hand and the crêpe pan in the other as you flip the crêpe into the air. If you manage to catch it in the pan, it’s said that your family will be prosperous for the rest of the year.
• “Sled Dog Day”, honoring those tenacious teams of canines that pull together to provide transportation in the snowy North. (A good day to enjoy some ‘mush’!)
• “World Play Your Ukulele Day”, offering uke players a chance to ‘change the world 4 strings at a time’ by playing, sharing, and teaching others to play the mini-guitar.
• “World Wetlands Day”, observed since 1997 to raise awareness among governments, non-governmental organizations, and the public at large of the ecological value and benefit of the world’s wetlands. (Formerly known as ‘swamps’.)
• “Self Renewal Day”, try these tips to recharge, renew and rejuvenate:
-Smile when you first wake up, no matter how you feel.
-At different times during the day, take three deep breaths.
-Instead of turning on the radio or TV, sit quietly, even for a few minutes. Breathe slowly and notice what you see and hear.
-Say “thanks” to some part of your body for what it does for you. If you get a laugh out of this, all the better.
-Gently place your hands on top of your head, with your fingers together and slightly cupped. Hold in a relaxed way for a few seconds or minutes.
-Go outside or sit beside an open window. Feel the fresh air on your face. Smile again.
AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] National Carrot Cake Day
[Wed] The Day the Music Died
[Thurs] World Cancer Day
[Thurs] Liberace Day
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2014 [07] 46-year-old Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote”, “Hunger Games”) dies of an accidental heroin overdose
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1993 [28] Willie Nelson settles his $17 million tax debt with the US Internal Revenue Service by paying them $9 million in cash and assets already seized
2011 [10] The White Stripes break up, “to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way”
2019 [02] Marshmello performs a virtual concert inside the online game “Fortnite” that is seen by 10 million gamers. To do so, he is rigged to a body-motion suit that transfers his movements to the screen. It’s the first large-scale integration of a concert within a video game.
TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2014 [07] At Super Bowl 48 in East Rutherford NJ, Seattle Seahawks beat Denver Broncos 43-8, the first NFL championship for the Seahawks in their 40-year history
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2004 [17] Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the #1 ranked men’s singles player, a position he holds for a record 237 weeks (***the now-39-year-old is currently ranked #5, with $130 million in career earnings)
BULL’S BITS
BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ A single NASA space suit costs almost $10 million.
✓ Nike Air sneakers have been made out of straw, crocodile skin, and 18-karat gold.
✓ The human body glows in the dark, but the light emitted is too dim for our eyes to see it.
✓ Bears don’t raid beehives for honey – they’re after the larvae. (But they’ll eat the honey, too!)
✓ Men are 4 times more likely than women to get kidney stones.
✓ Vanilla is mildly addictive.
-BathroomReadersInstitute
Best of BS . . .
BS METHODS ASIDE FROM GROUNDHOGS TO DETERMINE IF SPRING IS ON THE WAY:
• Washington Wizards mathematically eliminated from NBA playoffs.
• Wal-Mart re-labels bags of ‘tire-traction sand’ as ‘sandbox sand’.
• That nice Spring breeze … that’s blowing small cars across the parking lot.
• (***Local TV forecaster***) switches from tacky wool blazers to tacky polyester blazers.
• Garbage collectors start going topless.
• Look at a calendar, twit!
-First published in BS 1998
TODAY’S SLICE OF BS:
➠ It’s Groundhog Day — The day when six more weeks of winter can be predicted by a rodent. (Punxsutawney Phil has been guessing the weather since 1887 and has been wrong 61% of the time …yet, he is still front-page news. So, I guess “fake news” isn’t a recent phenomenon…)
➠ Groundhog Day is today. (It’s the one day when we put our faith into a rat…unless you count election day!)
➠ Kraft has released pink Mac n’ Cheese with a hint of candy flavor to celebrate Valentine’s Day. (In the process, combining America’s two favorite things: type1 and type2 diabetes…)
➠ A Cartoon Network-themed hotel opened recently in Pennsylvania. (Yeah, I don’t know…Sounds sketchy.)
➠ A married Texas police chief has been exposed on the city’s Facebook page for having two mistresses. (…Marking that rare situation when someone ‘got off’ BEFORE being charged!)
BS WEB GOODIE:
Here we go again: https://tinyurl.com/jzv7yel
BS RANDOM JOKE:
Life is not a fairy tale. If you lose you shoe at midnight, you’re drunk.
BS PHONE STARTER:
What fictional death affected you the most?
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: A survey found that more than 20% of us keep THIS odd item in their glove compartment. What is it?
Answer: A tube of toothpaste
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Well done is better than well said.
NOW ON OUR SHEET LIST:
A big BS welcome to these recent additions to the herd: Matt Fisher @ CHMT Moose 93.1 Timmins ON; Jeff Reynolds @ WJAA Seymour IN; Karli Morgan @ WEIS Centre AL; Aaron Leiker @ Thunder Country KTHN La Junta CO; Erika Goines @ WKGC Panama City FL; Steve @ Jane and Steve Show Maine; Michael Hughes @ World Mix Inet Pasadena CA; Peter Sessa @ 710 Morning Show Podcast Wellington FL; David Gray @ Smooth 105.6 Waipu, Northland NZ; Wilson Hornrado @ Radio Comercial Portugal