Tuesday, May 12, 2020   Edition: #6695

100% ‘Grade A’ Bull!

BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Piers Morgan has offered up some harsh criticism of the Duchess of Sussex over the years, but the British TV host is now admitting he may have pushed it “too far.” Perhaps his most memorable slam against Meghan Markle came in a 2018 column he wrote, in which he described her as “a ruthless social climbing actress who has landed the role of her life and is determined to milk it for all she can.” In a new interview, Morgan said: “Have I taken things a bit too far? Probably. Do I think that will govern and temper how I talk about them going forward? Absolutely.”
-MSN
★ The production company behind the megahit “Deadpool 2” has been fined nearly $290,000 for violating multiple safety rules leading to the death of a stuntwoman on a set in Vancouver in 2017. SJ Harris died after being thrown from a motorcycle and crashing into the ground-floor window frame of a building after she rode off a ramp placed on a set of stairs. An investigation identified a number of failures by TCF Vancouver Productions Ltd., a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, including instructing Harris not to wear safety headgear while operating a motorcycle.
-Canoe
★ Millie Bobby Brown has a record deal in the works. The 16-year-old, best-known for her starring role in the Netflix series “Stranger Things”, has reportedly been recording music in lockdown and she’s currently working towards releasing her first album. She’s been collaborating with her brother after filming of the Netflix series was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
-ContactMusic
★ Andy Serkis raised more than $360,000 with his live reading of “The Hobbit” on Friday. The ‘Gollum’ actor read the entire novel in one sitting – a feat that took him just under 11 hours. Money raised from the “Hobbitathon” will be split between British National Health Service “Charities Together” and “Best Beginnings”, a children’s charity that Serkis is an ambassador for.
-LADBible

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): Lionel Richie
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Ethan Hawke, Elle Fanning, Kane Brown
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Christine Baranski, Ellie Kemper
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): Paul Giamatti, Nicole Richie
• “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS/CTV): Jeff Goldblum, James Blake
• “Conan” (TBS): Chris Gethard
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): James Kennedy, Raquel Leviss, Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Magic Johnson
• “The Talk” (CBS): Martina McBride, Audra McDonald
• “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC/CTV): Michelle Dockery, Lance Ulanoff
• “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (NBC/CTV): Kristen Bell
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS): A new Message From Montana, repeat segments with, Alison Brie, Ella Jay Basco, Kid Ace (R)
• “The Happy Days of Garry Marshall: (ABC): His family and friends share their favorite memories of the creative genius behind some of the most memorable series in television history.
• “The Voice” (NBC): Live semifinal results show; three artists are revealed as safe by America’s votes; the bottom three are eliminated, the middle three compete in the Instant Save for the last spot in the finale.
• “The Flash” (CW): Season 6 finale

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Selena Gomez – says she was already busy in her new home studio before lockdown. Now, she says that she “didn’t want to lose that feeling of inspiration, so I am constantly writing ideas and lyrics down for songs in my journals.”
• Miley Cyrus – says she is aware many people are struggling with social distancing measures because they may have lost their job or be confined to a small home with no outdoor space. Quote: “I know I’m in a unique position, and my experience with this pandemic is not like most everyone else’s in my country and around the world.”
• U2 — Bono celebrated his 60th birthday Sunday by posting a playlist of what he described as “60 Songs That Saved My Life.” Among them were songs by Billie Eilish, David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, Luciano Pavarotti and Massive Attack.
• Eminem – says he has to Google his own lyrics when songwriting to make sure he doesn’t repeat himself. According to him: “When you made so many songs about everything, it gets a little tricky… You start getting to the point where you’ve rapped about everything, you’ve rhymed every word there is to rhyme.”
• Chris Martin – The Coldplay singer, along with Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, have signed up to support a new virtual festival co-founded by the widow of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. The 320 Festival will raise awareness and encourage discussion about mental health through musical performances, educational sessions, and workshops. The digital event begins at 8:30AM PT each day beginning Friday on 320 Festival’s Facebook Live and YouTube Live pages.
• Bob Dylan – paid glowing tribute to the late Little Richard, who died on bone cancer on Saturday at 87. In a series of tweets, Dylan called Richard his ”guiding light” and wrote: ”He was always generous, kind and humble. And still dynamite as a performer and a musician and you could…learn plenty from him.”
• Gwen Stefani — made her debut at Grand Ole Opry on Saturday remotely from Blake Shelton’s ranch in Oklahoma to raise money for coronavirus relief. The couple performed their duet ‘Nobody But You’. Shelton also performed some solo songs including his 2019 single ‘God’s Country’.
• Chris Young — has canceled a number of tour dates through August due to the coronavirus. Shows affected include those in Detroit, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Darien Center, NY, and Saratoga Springs, NY. There are a number of other dates on his “Town Ain’t Big Enough World Tour 2020” scheduled for May, June, July and August, so it’s unclear whether those will also be canceled.
• Tim McGraw — released a lyric video for his new single, ‘I Called Mama’ shortly before Mother’s Day. ‘I Called Mama’ is about the special connection mothers share with their children, and the new lyric video features never-before-seen footage of McGraw and his mom.

THIS WEEK’S NETFLIX (Canada) RELEASES:
➢ May 12:
• “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend” (Netflix Special):  The canceled comedy series returns with a one-off “choose-your-own-adventure” format episode. The entire cast returns, plus new and returning guests Jon Hamm, Jack McBrayer, Fred Armisen, Daniel Radcliffe, Amy Sedaris and Chris Parnell.
➢ May 13:
• “The Great Canadian Baking Show, Season 3”:  Chaos and confections go hand-in-hand in this competition. But they must bake it through to rise to the top.
• “The Wrong Missy” (Comedy):  A guy meets the woman of his dreams and invites her to his company’s corporate retreat, but realizes he sent the invite to the wrong person. (Lauren Lapkus, Sarah Chalke, David Spade)
➢ May 19:
• “Shrek” (Comedy):  On a mission to retrieve a princess from a fire-breathing dragon, gruff ogre Shrek teams up with an unlikely compatriot ― a wisecracking donkey. (Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz)
(Full list: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/netflix-canada-may-2020_ca_5ea5d220c5b6f9639816e81a For releases in other Netflix regions, click here: https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/coming-soon/)

KALE TO ACTION:
If you’d like to eat healthier, but hate the taste of kale or broccoli or other veggies, just tough it out – it’ll get better. New University of Buffalo research says that our taste buds can be trained to like vegetables. How? At the risk of sounding gross, every forkful of food that enters your mouth must first be dissolved by saliva before the taste receptor cells have a turn. There are 1,000 proteins in our saliva, and these proteins are influenced by what we eat. So, the more we eat those bitter greens, the better they taste. And how many servings of vegetables that we don’t like does it take to adjust our taste buds? Sorry, we don’t have a number, because everyone is different, but one of the study leads assures us that if you eat them, your taste “will eventually change”.
(Or just do what I do, and smother them with cheese!)
(By the way, this is true for any food, just in case you are one of those weirdos who can’t seem to choke down chocolate or ice cream or something…)
(How about that? What I’ve been telling my kids has been true all along!)
-StudyFinds

LINE UP:
Are you ready for the return…of line dancing? It’s happening. While the popular dance craze of the 1970s has remained popular in country-western dance bars, people are now discovering that the style of dance that requires groups of people to stand and dance in rows facing the same direction without ever making physical contact is perfect for the era of social distancing. And because of this, it seems the dance is making a comeback. In Toronto, a woman has been leading daily outdoor line dancing for people in her community. In Newfoundland, a group of people put on an outdoor show for residents of a seniors’ home which included a line dancing exhibition. And last month, Calgary Police posted footage of officers doing a line dance with a number of community members. It’s not just a fun activity, it’s also a good way to get some exercise and a bit of socializing while maintaining physical distancing. And some people are saying that line dancing could be brought back big-time by night-clubs as a way of keeping people together-apart once they begin to reopen.
LINK: Takin’ it to the Streets
(Sounds interesting, but I’m holding out for the return of breakdancing…)
(Not exactly the first thing I think of when I hear the term “Police lineup”!)
(I suppose it’s a step in the right direction…)
-FreshDaily

THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT:
The coronavirus pandemic has halted a decades-long air travel boom and, according to experts, has changed forever how we fly, how much we will pay, and perhaps how safe we will feel. A few predictions from experts on what we can expect:
➢ More screening:  The pandemic is going to revolutionize health protection and cleanliness procedures in airports and airplanes. Perhaps passengers will go through check-in, security and boarding without touching surfaces. That may involve voice-activated terminals, facial recognition or other biometrics, plus health screening.
➢ Arrival time:  How does arriving at the airport FOUR hours before departure grab you? That gives you time for all the appropriate screenings and to pass through a disinfection tunnel before entry to the airport.
➢ Less luggage:  It could be disinfected with fog or UV light, then “sanitagged”. Oh, and no carry-ons allowed.
➢ Rear-facing seats:  In the short-term, we’ll see blocked off seats to allow for physical distancing. In the future, seat configurations could change, perhaps featuring middle seats facing backwards and plastic screens between passengers. (So it’s not ALL bad!)
➢ Higher fares, of course:  The number of seats on commercial planes could fall to 50-60% of current configurations. That loss of revenue, plus the increased expenses of screening, sanitation and other precautions will significantly increase the cost of doing business for airlines, who already operate on razor-thin profit margins.  (I would say to prepare for a return to travelling by ship, but that might not be such a good idea either…)
-CTV, TheStar

DID YOU KNOW?
Dozens of American COVID-19 patients are attempting to sue China over the spread of the virus. So far, at least nine lawsuits have been filed claiming authorities in China did not do enough to corral the virus initially, tried to hide what was happening in the outbreak center of Wuhan and sought to conceal their actions and what they knew. Eight of the lawsuits are potential class actions that would represent thousands of people and businesses. The cases face several hurdles, including the fact that foreign governments cannot be sued in the U.S. unless certain exceptions are met.
-AP

BS CHRONOMETER 05.12.20

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1955 [65] (Leon) Kix Brooks, Shreveport LA, country singer (Brooks & Dunn- ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’, ‘My Maria’)

1959 [61] Ving Rhames, NYC, movie actor (“Mission: Impossible” films, “Pulp Fiction”)

1962 [58] Emilio Estevez, Staten Island NY, movie actor (“Breakfast Club”, “The Outsiders”, “Mighty Ducks” movies)/brother of Charlie Sheen, son of Martin Sheen

1968 [52] Tony Hawk, Carlsbad CA, pro skateboarder (became a star for redefining vertical skateboarding, founding Birdhouse, and launching a successful video game series)

1969 [51] Kim Fields, NYC, TV actress (‘Tootie’ on “The Facts of Life” 1979-88, “Living Single” 1993-98)

1978 [42] Malin Akerman, Stockholm Sweden [raised Niagara-on-the-Lake ON], TV actress (‘Lara Axelrod’ on “Billions” 2016)/movie actress (“Rock of Ages”)

1978 [42] Jason Biggs, Pompton Plains NJ, movie actor (“American Pie” franchise)

1981 [39] Rami Malek, Los Angeles CA, TV actor (‘Elliot Anderson’ on “Mr. Robot” 2015-19)/movie actor (Best Actor Oscar for “Bohemian Rhapsody”) COMING UP…”No Time to Die”

1986 [34] Emily VanCamp, Port Perry ON, movie actress (“Captain America: Civil War”, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”)/TV actress (“Revenge” 2011-15)

TODAY’S REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “International Nurses Day”, a highlight of “Nursing Week” that commemorates the 1820 birth date of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. Here’s to you, RNs, NPs, and all nurses!

• “Limerick Day”, celebrating the 1812 birthday of Edward Lear, author of the first collection of limericks, “The Book of Nonsense”. You’ll find some ‘Loony Limericks’ here …
NET: https://libguides.uwlax.edu/c.php?g=615047&p=4276692

• “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day”, promoting awareness of the syndrome officially known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, or ‘M-E’. Today is also “Fibromyalgia Awareness Day”, a similar malady that can cause debilitating fatigue, sleep disturbance, and joint stiffness.

• “Odometer Day”, created to remind people that odometers help us anticipate the lifespan of our cars and remind us to schedule maintenance (in hopes that our cars will “go that extra kilometer” for us…)

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Cough Drop Day
[Wed] National Apple Pie Day
[Thurs] Dance Like a Chicken Day
[Thurs] Buttermilk Biscuit Day

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1956 [64] According to the show, Homer Simpson of “The Simpsons”, is born in Springfield

2008 [12] NBC-TV announces Jimmy Fallon will succeed Conan O’Brien as host of “Late Night”

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
2008 [12] Neil Young has a spider named for him after biologist Jason Bond decides to call his recently discovered species ‘Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi’

2013 [07] After Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield records the David Bowie song ‘Space Oddity’ on board the International Space Station, his rendition is posted to YouTube, quickly garnering millions of views.

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1941 [79] Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world’s first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin

BULL’S BITS

BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ 29% of workers report being at their most productive on Mondays.
✓ Glitter was invented by a New Jersey cattle rancher in 1934.
✓ Harvard accepts 4.5% of applicants. Walmart accepts only 2.6% of (job) applicants.
✓ Penicillin was originally called “mold juice”.
✓ Wild carrots can range in color from white to yellow to purple.
✓ Penguin urine makes up about 3% of Antarctica’s glaciers.
-Livin3

Best of BS . . .
BS ETIQUETTE TIPS:
Just in time for “Etiquette Week” …
• When drinking directly out of a wine bottle, always hold it so your fingers cover the label.
• Your dinner table centerpiece should never be anything prepared by a taxidermist.
• While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this is a job that should only be done using one’s OWN truck keys.
• Livestock is usually a poor choice as a wedding gift.
• Never take a beer to a job interview.
• If you have to vacuum the bed, it is time to change the sheets.
• Even if you’re certain that you are included in the will, it’s considered tacky to drive a U-Haul to the funeral home.
– First published in BS 2003

BS SIGNS FACEBOOK HAS VIOLATED YOUR PRIVACY:
• Your personal photos start showing up on billboards.
• Singles who live near you begin knocking on your door.
• You get over a million hits when you Google your credit card number.
• Your account has uploaded pictures of you sleeping all by itself.
• Meghan Markle says she’s glad she at least has more privacy than you.
• You get ‘friend’ suggestions based on your annual salary.
• Mark Zuckerberg is looking through your bedroom window.
• You have a Facebook account.
– Adapted from BBSpot.com, first published in BS in 2010

TODAY’S SLICE OF BS:
➠ Researchers say that close to 80 million homes will have robots by the year 2025. (Can’t wait until the year 2025 to be surrounded by emotionally-detached droids? Come to my family reunion!)
➠ I just read a report that said there are 80,000 different ways to order a drink at Starbucks. (And ironically, none of them were: “May I have a regular coffee please?”)
➠ Astronomers say they have found the nearest black hole to earth. (It’s full of iPhone chargers, ChapStick, sunglasses and socks…)
➠ I just read a study that suggested if you drink with friends, you’ll drink more. (Especially if one of those friends is Ben Affleck)
➠ Taco Bell has debuted three new toasted breakfast burritos. (Because sitting on the toilet with your arms bracing the walls on either side of you isn’t just for lunch and dinner anymore!)

BS WEB GOODIE:
Life stats:  https://tinyurl.com/y9m4qhlt

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Someone please tell Facebook that ALL relationships are complicated.

BS PHONE STARTER:
Your house is on fire and you have time to grab just 2 items. What are they?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question:  15% of women say they will test him at the start of a relationship by asking him to do THIS. What is it?
Answer:  Watch a chick-flick (rom-com).

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Worry is a misuse of imagination.