BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Britain’s weekly music magazine “NME” (“New Musical Express”) will be available for free starting in September as part of a brand overhaul designed to halt falling circulation figures. The magazine, which is owned by Time Inc UK and currently costs £2.60 ($4), was launched in 1952 but circulation has dropped to just 15,000 in the last decade. It’s hoped that by giving the publication away the numbers can be increased to 300,000. The magazine’s website NME.com, launched in 1996, will also undergo changes and a series of other digital products will be introduced.
– Telegraph.co.uk
★ Chris Tucker has been hit with a lawsuit by a former colleague who alleges the actor has not paid him for work. The “Rush Hour” star is set to release his first comedy special, “Chris Tucker Live”, on Netflix this Friday, but both Tucker and the streaming service are being sued by one Terry Hodges, who alleges he hasn’t been paid by Tucker since 2011. The comedian claims he’s been writing, editing, and producing material with Tucker since 2008, but he stopped receiving regular payments 4 years ago. Hodges says he’s owed $66,000 plus a co-producer credit on the show. Tucker’s attorney, of course, disagrees. Quote: “Absurd.”
– TMZ.com
★ Justin Bieber has driven (any remaining) fans wild by posting a naked picture of himself on social media. The “Baby” hitmaker is on vacation in a mystery location following his visit to Australia for a religious conference last week. He’s been documenting the trip on Instagram, where yesterday he posted a rearview (literally) pic of himself standing on the deck of a boat completely naked, pointing at the shoreline. The simple caption: “Look”. The image has received more than 1.2 million ‘likes’ within hours.
– WENN.com
• And lots of people get a bit anxious when their phone battery runs low but not everyone would climb onstage moments before a Broadway play is due to start to plug a charger into a fake socket built into the set. Yet that is exactly what some (idiot) guy did last week at the Booth Theatre in NYC, home to the acclaimed Tony-nominated production “Hand to God”. The crew stopped the pre-show music and removed the phone, and the theater made an announcement pointing out that you can’t plug your phone into the set.
– “Playbill”

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Amazing Race Canada” (CTV) – In the 3rd season debut, a dozen teams begin their journey in Québec City QC.
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Little Big Town (“Pain Killer”). Rerun.
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Tyler, The Creator (“Cherry Bomb”); R5 (“Louder”). Rerun.
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Alt-J (“This Is All Yours”). Rerun.
• “Late Late Show With James Corden” (CBS/M3) – Palma Violets (“180”). Rerun.
• “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV) – Mountain Goats (“Beat the Champ”). Rerun.
• “Marilyn Denis Show” (CTV/CTV2) – Joss Stone (“Water for Your Soul”, out July 31st).
• “Meredith Vieira Show” (syndicated) – Ashanti (“Braveheart”). Rerun.
• “The Spoils Before Dying” (IFC) – Will Ferrell & Kristen Wiig star in this 3-day comedy series, a pulp-noir murder mystery set amidst the Los Angeles jazz scene.
• “Tavis Smiley” (PBS) – Country music veteran Tanya Tucker.
• “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – James Taylor (“Before This World”). Rerun.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• The Beatles – Out of 308 songs penned by the Fab Four, 48 (or 16%) make reference to the weather, researchers from Oxford and Southampton Universities have found.
• Ciara – She’s no longer ‘getting any’ since her boyfriend, 26-year-old NFL star Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks), received a message from God to abstain from sex. He thinks it’s made their relationship stronger, quote: ”If you can love somebody without that, then you can really love somebody.”
• Jack White – One of his many bands, The Dead Weather, returns in September with a 3rd full-length album, “Dodge & Burn”. A  limited-edition vinyl LP version will be available as part of a ‘Vault’ subscription to White’s Third Man Records.
• Jessie J – Today she’s scheduled to open the Henley Festival at Henley-On-Thames UK, performing on a floating stage in the River Thames. The annual 5-day festival features live music, contemporary arts, comedy, and street theater. Lionel Richie is also on the bill.
• Kid Rock – The rocker often displays the Confederate flag during his shows, but members of a civil rights group in his native Detroit MI have asked him to stop using the banner in wake of the recent controversy over its display. A kid from the Motor City is certainly no Southerner anyway.
• Meghan Trainor – She’s been forced to cancel 2 more shows, in Detroit MI and Chicago IL, due to a hemorrhage on her vocal cords. The 21-year-old, who already postponed a string of dates last week, claims she’s on the mend and hopes to be back onstage soon.
• Mumford & Sons – Banjoist Winston Marshall (27) is apparently seeing former “Glee” actress Dianna Agron (27). The twosome has been spotted strolling in Paris, France this week and sources have since confirmed to “Us Weekly” that they are an item.
• Rihanna – A number of companies have asked video-sharing website Vevo to not air their ads adjacent to her controversial new video “Bitch Better Have My Money”. The footage features kidnapping, drugs, nudity, and violence. Vevo has agreed to comply.
• Rod Stewart – Wife Penny Lancaster has revealed that his doctor banned him from wearing tight pants so he could father a 2nd child with her. The 70-year-old rocker, who has 8 children from various relationships, finally achieved the goal 4 years ago … after adopting loose boxers.
• The Weeknd – The 25-year-old is currently working on his next album, tentatively titled “Chapter III”, and has recorded songs with both Ed Sheeran and Kanye West for the project. The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) is expected to release the album later this year.

BURN, BABY, BURN:
Why are women increasingly putting an open flame to their hair these days? Apparently fire gets rid of split ends. Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio recently posted a picture to Instagram of her having her hair burned with a candle. It’s a Brazilian treatment called ‘Valeterapia’ and it burns off split ends with the open flame. The stylist starts by twisting dry hair, causing fly-aways and split ends to start poking out of the twist. Then she grabs a candle and begins waving the flame up and down the twist to burn off fly-aways. If you feel compelled to try this treatment, make sure you go to a professional. (Imagine how this smells! Ick.)
– BuzzFeed Life

FROM THE BS POLL VAULT:
A statistical look at who we are and the things we do …
• 93% of dog-owners are convinced their pooches have the ability to smile.
• 56% of kids eat mac & cheese at least twice a month.
• 25% of married drivers have kept a traffic ticket secret from their partner.
• 17% of women would give up their best friend for a week rather than their smartphone.
• 12% of us dream in black & white.
• 7% of guys have ruined a date by locking the keys in the car.

CELEBS WHO NEVER FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL:
Defying today’s conventional thinking that you need a master’s degree in order to work in a convenience store, these mega-rich famous folks failed to finish even Grade 12 …
• Charlie Sheen – Expelled from Santa Monica High School for poor grades and attendance.
• Eminem – Due to numerous absences, never made it past 9th grade … twice.
• Gisele Bündchen – Stopped schooling at 14 after being signed by Elite Model Management.
• Jim Carrey – Dropped out on his 16th birthday and ‘immediately’ went to a comedy club.
• Johnny Depp – Left school around 15 to pursue his dream of being a musician.
• Mark Wahlberg – Actually did get a diploma, but only a couple years ago at age 42.
• Quentin Tarantino – Left school at 15 to take acting classes and do community theater.
• Richard Branson – The billionaire quit boarding school at 16 to start a magazine … “Student”.
• Ryan Gosling – Dropped out of school at 17 and moved from Canada to LA to pursue acting.
• Seth Rogen – Quit at 16 to star on TV’s “Freaks & Geeks” … playing a high school student.
– Sourced from “Fox News Magazine”

THE FESTIVAL WORKOUT:
A new study by tech company Withings claims that attending a music festival is a good workout. It seems festival-goers burn a huge amount of calories from dancing and walking between stages. The study suggests festival fans can wear off 9,000 calories over a 3-day event, walking some 15 miles (24 km) in the process. If you get up and dance to your favorite artists, you’ll burn 400-to-700 calories during each performance. Even the act of simply standing and nodding your head while clutching your beverage uses twice as many calories as sitting down and doing the same thing. So what’s the most physically demanding festival? Likely England’s Glastonbury, where fans walk an average of 5.1 miles around Worthy Farm each day and exert 3,400 calories. (Who knew attending Louder Than Life was good for you?)
– NME.com

BS BUZZWORDS:
Cutting-edge vocab …
• ‘Divorce Doula’ – An advocate who provides legal and financial advice as well as emotional support to a client who is going through a divorce. (“My divorce doula says I should stop poking voodoo dolls and burning effigies and focus more on getting on with my life.”)
• ‘Generation Pause’ – Nickname for the young adult generation who are not able to do things previously typical for their age group, such as buy a home or start a family due to lack of money. (“Yeah, I’m still renting … I’m a Pauser.”)
• ‘Spreadsheet Parenting’ – The practice of over-scheduling your kids’ lives. (“No you can’t go out to play … you’ve got a piano lesson, and then Junior Investors’ Club before dinner.”)

THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT NUTELLA:
✓ One jar of Nutella is sold every 2.5 seconds.
✓ You can circle the world 1.4 times with the amount of Nutella sold every year.
✓ It wasn’t always Nutella. It was ‘pasta gianduja’ when it originally came in a sliceable loaf.
✓ Nutella was introduced to the European market in 1964, but not until 1983 elsewhere.
✓ Michele Ferrero, owner of the Nutella brand, has an estimated net worth over $26 billion.
✓ Nutella uses 25% of the world’s hazelnut supply.
✓ There are over 6 million pictures on Instagram tagged #nutella.
✓ You’re saying it wrong. The correct pronunciation is ‘new-tell-uh’ not ‘nuh-tell-uh’.
– Condensed from BuzzFeed.com

DID YOU KNOW?
Happy people are generally more satisfied with their jobs but also tend to earn less than unhappy people.
– List25.com

BS CHRONOMETER 07.08.15

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1944 [71] Jeffrey Tambor, San Francisco CA, TV actor (‘Maura Pfefferman’ on “Transparent” since 2014, “Arrested Development” 2003-06, 2013)/movie actor (“Hangover” films, “Monsters vs Aliens”)

1951 [64] Anjelica Huston, Santa Monica CA, TV actress (“Smash” 2012-13)/movie actress (“Prizzi’s Honor”, “The Addams Family”)

1958 [57] Kevin Bacon, Philadelphia PA, TV actor (‘Ryan Hardy’ on “The Following” since 2013)/movie actor (“Frost/Nixon”, “Footloose”)/Hollywood Walk of Fame (2003)

1961 [54] Toby Keith, Clinton OK, country singer (“Made in America”, “I Love This Bar”)/sometime movie actor (“Beer For My Horses”, “Broken Bridges”)

1970 [45] Beck (Hansen), LA CA, alt-rock singer (“Dreams”, “E-Pro”)

1976 [39] David Kennedy, Poway CA, rock guitarist (Angels & Airwaves-“Everything’s Magic”, “The Adventure”)

1985 [30] Jamie Cook, Sheffield UK, indie rock guitarist-songwriter (Arctic Monkeys-“Do I Wanna Know?”, “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor”)

1998 [17] Jaden Smith, Malibu CA, movie actor (“The Karate Kid”, “The Pursuit of Happyness”)/son of actors Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith

TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Be a Kid Again Day”, when we’re encouraged to participate in activities we enjoyed as a child and to introduce them to a kid we know. (“OK Zachary, this is known as ‘playing outdoors’ …”)

• “Eat a Vegetable You’ve Never Tried Before Day”. Bok choy? Rapini? Bamboo? Kudzu?

• “Ice Cream Sundae Day”, a day to create you own sundae from all your favorite toppings. The 1st sundae was purportedly created on this date in 1881 by Edward Berner in Two Rivers WI.

• “Videogames Day”, a day for kids to appreciate both the games … and the parents who buy them. Actually, one of the fastest growing segments of the videogame market is adult women.

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2012 [03] Academy Award-winning actor Ernest Borgnine (“Marty”) dies at age 95

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1995 [20] “Waterfalls” by TLC peaks at #1 on the pop singles chart and remains there 7 weeks

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2007 [08] Boeing launches it’s newest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner (up to 335 passengers)

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1990 [25] 1st TV broadcast to generate 1 billion viewers worldwide (FIFA World Cup, hosted by Italy)

COMING UP . . .
[Thurs] Québec Summer Festival begins (Québec City QC)
[Fri] “Minions” opens in movie theaters
[Fri] T In the Park festival begins (Strathallan Castle, Scotland)
[Fri] Don’t Step On a Bee Day
[Sat] Bald is In Day
[Sat] Slurpee Day
[Sun] Simplicity Day
This Week Is … International Gay Square Dancing Week
This Month Is … Share a Sunset With Your Lover Month

BULL’S BITS

HOW TO GET A ‘DAD-BOD’:
✓ Reward yourself for waking up each day with a milkshake.
✓ Look up how much college tuition costs and multiply it times the number of kids you have. Then, instead of crying, eat another late-night burrito.
✓ Buy a gym membership and when they give you the tour, take a good look around … it’s the last time you will see it.
✓ Chase a fugitive balloon across the yard and return it to the birthday girl before you throw up in the bushes.
✓ Do one pushup, breathe heavily, and open a bag of Wild Berry Skittles.
✓ Have a toddler punch you in the genitals to wake you up from a nap.
✓ Start running but immediately injure your entire body and take a year off.
✓ Lower your testosterone level a bit by losing another negotiation with a 2-year-old.
✓ Allow the stress of your financial burden to allow you to feel each individual hair turning white.
✓ Confidently take off your shirt and swim a couple of laps in the pool. Put your shirt back on and quietly dry-heave in a lounge chair.
– Adapted from McSweeneys.net

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ If you could design your own theme restaurant what would it have?

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Bigamy is one spouse too many. Monogamy, same thing.

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: The average adult does THIS 31 times a year.
Answer: Removes a grey hair.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Dijon vu … the feeling you’ve had the same mustard before.