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BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
“Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) head honcho Shonda Rhimes has agreed to let actress Katherine Heigl out of her contract early and it may work out that her final episode has already aired (‘Izzie Stevens’ might have already spent her last day at ‘Seattle Grace’) . . . Another celeb marriage bites the dust: Brit actress Kate Winslet (“The Reader”) & director Sam Mendes (“Revolutionary Road”) have called it quits after almost 7 years (now, how to divide up the estimated $50-million fortune?) . . . “NY Post” reports that Kate Gosselin is being a ‘total diva’ on the set of “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC), snubbing other contestants and behaving frostily to crew members (being a jerk or just showing her reality TV know-how in hyping the new season that debuts March 22nd?) . . . Sorta famous Kelly Osbourne has announced she’s re-writing her autobiography, “Fierce”, to include ‘all the exciting things that have happened’ since it was first published – last September (she’s 25 and in the twilight of a mediocre career) . . . Actor George Clooney’s girlfriend, 30-year-old Italian TV personality Elisabetta Canalis, is set to guest star in a 5-episode arc on the TNT series “Leverage” as ‘an intriguing woman with an unknown agenda’ (this is the best string George can pull?) . . . And if you’re actress Eva Longoria Parker here’s how you spend your 35th birthday: breakfast with friends, such as Kim Kardashian; shopping in high-end boutiques; lunch at a Miami Beach hotel; an intimate evening onboard a yacht with NBA player-husband Tony Parker who hires a skywriter to leave a personal message to you above the city (no wonder the famous start to think they’re something special).

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “American Idol” (FOX/CTV) – Orianthi (“According to You”) performs; 1 contestant is eliminated.
• “Bonnie Hunt Show” (syndicated/CityTV) – Swell Season (“Strict Joy”).
• “Chelsea Lately” (E!) – Avril Lavigne (“Almost Alice”).
• “Daily Show With Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central/CTV) – Snoop Dogg (“Malice N Wonderland”).
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/A Channel) – One eskimO (“Givin’ Up”).
• “The Hour” (CBC) – Buffy Ste-Marie (“Running For The Drum”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Gary Allan (“Get Off On the Pain”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Metric (“Fantasies”).
• “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/A Channel) – The XX (“XX”).
• “Live With Regis & Kelly” (syndicated/CTV) – Celtic Woman (“The Greatest Journey”).
• “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC/A Channel) – Switchfoot (“Hello Hurricane”).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Blake Shelton – “Hillbilly Bone” will top this week’s “Billboard” and “Mediabase” charts, making it his 6th #1 country hit.
• Chris Brown – According to TheYBF.com, he’s reached out to fans via his Say Now account to address declining radio play and ask them to help by requesting his music.
• Elton John – A Georgia man has been arrested for making threats after posting a video online in which he stands outside Elton’s Atlanta condo complex holding a sign that reads ‘Elton John Must Die’. It’s apparently a response to Elton’s ill-advised off-the-cuff recent comment that Jesus was ‘a super-intelligent gay man’.
• Gloriana – They’ll be featured on over 50 million milk cartons in public schools across America, as part of the ‘Milk Rocks!’ campaign.
• Kings of Leon – They’re going on tour this Summer, hitting amphitheaters in major markets across North America.
• Linkin Park – Today on their official website they’re launching “LP Archives: Official Tour Bootlegs”, comprised of over 100 professional live concert recordings from 2007-09.
• Metric – Tonight, in continued support of their album “Fantasies”, they kick off a short tour of headlining dates in Tempe AZ.
• Michael Jackson – The administrators of his estate have reportedly locked down the biggest recording deal in history, a $200-million guaranteed contract with Sony Music for 10 projects over the next 7 years. It could be worth up to $250 million if certain conditions are met. One of the albums, due this November, will be made up of never-before-released Jackson recordings.
• Velvet Revolver – In a “Details” magazine interview, former frontman Scott Weiland blames ‘petty jealousies’ and rock star wives for the supergroup’s demise.

BEST-PAYING JOBS WITHOUT A DEGREE:
A job-posting website ranks the top-paying jobs you can get without a university degree. Rounded-off salary figures reflect the annual median each profession pays …
5. HVAC Installer ($45,000).
4. Clinical Lab Tech ($47,000).
3. Court Reporter ($47,000).
2. Police Officer ($47,500).
1. Computer Network Administrator ($50,000).
– CareerBuilder.com

YOU COULDN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP:
• A Turkish court has imposed an unexplained penalty on a 77-year-old woman for not paying her electric bill. She’s been ordered to settle the outstanding bill and, for reasons the court didn’t supply, been forbidden from attending weddings for 5 months. (That’ll teach her!)
– Anatolia News Agency
• A 32-year-old Kentucky woman who didn’t even know she was pregnant has delivered a newborn son all by herself on the floor of her laundry room, even cutting the umbilical cord. Then, before checking into hospital, she picked up her other son from school and stopped in at grandma’s house to show off the new baby. (Now THAT’S tough!)
– “Advocate-Messenger”
• Each year in Nepal, young people in the neighboring villages of Parsawa & Laxmipur take part in a 10-day ‘Cursing Festival’. They gather in public areas to hurl insults at each other and at passersby. Local insults include “Monkey face, I hope your sons are as ugly as frogs!” and “I hope your buffaloes die of diarrhea!” When the festival’s over, no more obscenities are allowed.
– Agence France-Presse

THE NEW WORKFORCE:
Thanks to the recent recession, workers worldwide are increasingly dumping ‘career advancement’ for ‘job stability’. That factor even trumps ‘pay’ as an employment consideration, according to a new survey of 20,000 workers in 22 countries by human resources firm Towers Watson. The poll shows many of us are becoming ‘nesters’ who’d simply prefer to stay put. A few survey highlights …
• 81% are not actively looking for a new position.
• 51% say there are no career advancement opportunities in their present jobs.
• 56% expect little change in the job market this year.
• 50% feel unprepared for planning or managing their retirement.
• 33% say they’d prefer to work for one organization their entire career.
• 30% plan to work past age 70.
– Reuters

SHAMROCK SHORTAGE:
Botanist Declan Doogue of the Royal Irish Academy says there’s a shortage of one of Ireland’s national symbols this “St Patrick’s Day”. Thanks to severe Winter weather, shamrocks aren’t easily found this week. The national plant had already been under threat due to modern farming methods. In its place, Ireland is making due with bogus shamrock plants this year and – ‘faith and begorrah! – imported shamrocks from England. (About as authentic as a plastic shillelagh.)
– IrishCentral.com

BS BUZZWORDS:
New terms leaking into the lingo …
• ‘Chillbilly’ – A hillbilly from colder climes, such as Alaska. (“Love her or hate her, that chillbilly Sarah Palin’s got someone doing great PR. She’s all over the media!”)
• ‘Combat Tourism’ – Pre-election visits and war zone tours in Afghanistan or Iraq by politicians in order to illustrate for the public their support and concern for troops. (“Break out the dress uniforms, troops. Another gang of combat tourists is moving through tomorrow.”)
• ‘KenTaco Hut’ – A fast-food joint, derived from a combination of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. (“I’m starved! Let’s hit a KenTaco Hut on the way home.”)

TRULY SHORT LIFE:
The world’s shortest man, China’s He Pingping who was just over 74.6-cm-tall (29 inches), has died in Rome at the age of 21 from apparent heart complications, “Guinness World Records” has announced. He was a chain smoker whom his family says stopped growing as an adolescent. (Let that be a lesson to you, kids!)
– ChinaDaily.com

FOR THE RECORD:
It’s the ultimate ‘Power Wheels’ toy car. A one-of-a-kind custom Ferrari, built especially for the opening of the first Ferrari dealership in Moscow, is powered by an 80 cc engine and sized to fit … 2 children. The pint-sized 1992 F40 is freshly painted (red) and on sale in NYC for $25,000.
NET: http://bit.ly/ayPaA5
– Hemmings.com

BS AMAZING FACT:
With more than 300 million hits to his blog, he may be the most popular living writer in the world.
Who’s that? Han Han, a 28-year-old race-car driver and pop novelist in China. His blog has been delivering increasingly caustic attacks on China’s leadership and their policies, the reason he’s increasingly become a victim of censorship.
– “New York Times”

BS CHRONOMETER 03.17.10

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TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1951 [59] Kurt Russell, Springfield MA, movie actor (“Grindhouse”, “Escape From LA”)/actress Goldie Hawn’s partner since 1983/actress Kate Hudson’s stepfather

1955 [55] Gary Sinise, Blue Island IL, TV actor (‘Detective Mac Taylor’ on “CSI: NY” since 2004)/movie actor (“Forrest Gump”)

1964 [46] Rob Lowe, Charlottesville VA, TV actor (“Brothers & Sisters” 2006-10, “The West Wing” 1999-2003)/movie actor (“Austin Powers” movies)

1967 [43] Billy Corgan, Chicago IL, rock singer/guitarist (Smashing Pumpkins-“Tarantula”, “1979”)

1972 [38] Melissa Auf der Maur, Montréal QC, alternative musician (Smashing Pumpkins, Hole)/photographer  UP NEXT: The multimedia project “OOOM” (Out Of Our Minds) that’s part novel, part music album, and part film, out March 30th. Tonight she plays the “South By Southwest Music Festival” in Austin TX.

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Clean Your Closet Day”. After all, would once-a-year kill ya? Sort it by: junk, charity donations, giveaways to family & friends, and stuff that’s too small to wear anymore.

• “St Patrick’s Day”, the Irish national holiday that began as a ‘solemn religious observance’ to honor St Patrick (389-461 AD), patron saint of Ireland. Some fast facts …
– It’s been an Irish holiday for 1,500 years, first celebrated in Canada in 1765 in Québec City.
– The world’s largest “St Patrick’s Parade” is in NYC where over a million spectators & 100,000 participants are expected. A tradition since 1762, the 2-mile parade lasts about 6 hours.
– Since 1965, the Chicago River has been dyed green for the “Chicago St Patrick’s Parade”, an idea conceived when a plumber was observed using green dye to trace leaks from a building.
– Green is associated with “St Patrick’s Day” because it’s the color of Spring, Ireland, and the shamrock.

• “Submarine Day”, celebrating the sandwich also known as a ‘hoagie’ or a ‘hero’.

• “World Maritime Day”, honoring the tradition of seafaring. So to all the ships at sea … here’s to ya, maties! Argh!

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2008 [02] New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer officially resigns after a scandal involving $1,000-an-hour call girl Ashley Dupré (a career-ender for him, a career booster for her)

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1987 [23] At a UK benefit, Princess Diana compliments Boy George on his fashionable choice of attire … black tights and a white dress

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1845 [165] Stephen Perry of London UK patents the ‘Elastic Band’ (next day, the 1st schoolboy gets one flicked in the eye)

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1908 [102] ‘Fastest Heavyweight Title Fight’ as Canadian Tommy Burns K-Os Jem Roche in just 88 seconds for the world championship

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Thurs] Absolutely Incredible Kid Day
[Thurs] Awkward Moments Day
[Thurs] Companies That Care Day
[Thurs] Forgive Mom & Dad Day
[Thurs] Biodiesel Day
[Sat] Proposal Day
[Sat] Vernal Equinox (Spring)
This Week Is … Agriculture Week
This Month Is … Red Cross Month

BULL’S BITS

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BS ‘BLANKETY BLANKS’:
Your phone contestant or studio guest supplies the following items which you write down. During a commercial break or music, use their suggestions to fill in the blanks and complete the story. Then, read it back on-air. If you wanna get really fancy, record and play back their actual responses as you read the story.
1. A revealing piece of lingerie.
2. A non-fatal sexually-transmitted disease.
3. A brand of mouthwash.
4. Something you might name your cat.
5. A famous wrestler.
6. A Middle East capital.
7. A place you escape from.
8. A brand and grade of gasoline.
9. Your favorite TV show.
10. A euphemism for feces.
And here’s today’s story …
Last year on St Patrick’s Day [co-host] decided to celebrate in style, so he dressed up in his favorite green [1] and headed down to the local Irish pub, a wee place called “The Harp and [2]”. Wanting to prove what a burly Irishman he was at heart, in a bold voice he demanded from the bartender, “Give me a [3] … and make it a double!” Several gallons later, he led the entire pub in a rousing rendition of that old Irish standard, “O [4] Boy.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. “You must be Irish”, said the bartender. “Well sure,” said [co-host], “My great aunt [5] on me father’s side was born in [6] in county [7]. Before crawling home, [co-host] decided to make one last toast. So he hoisted his mug of green [8] high in the air and said, “May your soul already be in heaven an hour before [9].” “Ah,” said the bartender, “There’s a wee bit of [10] in all of us.”

BS PHONE STARTER:
Aside from beer, what have you consumed on St Patrick’s Day that was green (and usually isn’t)?

BS RANDOM JOKE:
What do you call a bullet proof Irishman? Rick O’Shea.

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: It’s estimated that 21% of dogs and 7% of cats can do THIS.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Snore.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for.