BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
• Here’s a different angle on game shows. Former “The Office” star Steve Carell is returning to TV as executive producer of a zany new show which pits celebs against one another … on a 22.5-degree sloping stage. The 8-episode series “Slide Show”, set to air on FOX-TV, will feature the famous trying to sing, dance, and perform sketches while off-balance. The concept has already proven a hit in other countries such as Australia, France, and Portugal.
– WENN.com
• Best-selling Brit author Alexander McCall Smith is set to pen a new version of Jane Austen’s classic 1815 novel “Emma” with a 21st-century twist. 65-year-old McCall Smith, who’s sold 20 million copies of his “No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series, has been commissioned to do the re-write as the 4th book in the Austen Project, tasking authors with reworking the 19th century romances for a contemporary audience. The new version of “Emma” will be published in 2014.
– RelaxNews.com
• “Fargo”, the Oscar-winning movie from the Coen Bros, is getting its own TV series on FX. But viewers shouldn’t expect to see the return of Minnesota sheriff ‘Marge Gunderson’, as played by Frances McDormand. The TV version won’t feature the character, producers say, because it was created so perfectly the first time around. Furthermore, the reboot, starring Martin Freeman & Billy Bob Thornton, isn’t intended to be a ‘retelling’ of the same story.
– “Hollywood Reporter”
• And insiders say Kris & Bruce Jenner could be on the verge of one of the biggest divorce settlements in Hollywood history. After announcing they’ve called it quits on their 22-year marriage, they’ll be facing off over a staggering $125-million fortune and word has it there’s no prenuptial agreement. That would mean 63-year-old Bruce is legally entitled to a hefty chunk of the Kardashian brand’s take from their E! reality TV show and entertainment empire.
– RadarOnline.com

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Chelsea Lately” (E!) – Jennifer Hudson (“I Remember Me”).
• “Conan” (TBS/CTV) – Twenty One Pilots (“Vessel”). Rerun.
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – Fall Out Boy (“Save Rock & Roll”).
• “Glee” (FOX/Global) – In the show’s tribute to late star Cory Monteith, loved ones of ‘Finn’ gather to celebrate his life.
• “Good Morning America” (ABC) – Kelly Clarkson & Will.i.am announce nominees for the 2013 American Music Awards. The AMAs are handed out November 24th in Los Angeles.
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Panic! At the Disco (“Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Foals (“Holy Fire”). Rerun.
• “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Katy Perry (“Prism”, out October 22nd); rock old-timers Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Jeff Beck (The Yardbirds).
• “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” (ABC/CityTV) – Premiere of a spinoff from “Once Upon a Time”. Sophie Lowe plays ‘Alice’, who is trying to convince doctors in Victorian England that ‘Wonderland’ exists and she isn’t crazy. Uh, good luck with that.
• “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC/CTV2) – Tom Odell (“Long Way Down”).
• “The View” (ABC/CTV) – John Legend (“Love In the Future”).
• “Wendy Williams” (syndicated) – John Legend again.
• “The X Factor” (FOX/CTV2) – The hopefuls perform for the judges.

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Broken Bells – James Mercer of The Shins and Danger Mouse have reconvened for a new album under their Broken Bells moniker. “After the Disco” is due in January.
• The Game – This week he pulled a Kanye West outside an LA nightclub as he & Khloe Kardashian were surrounded by paparazzi while attempting to leave. The rapper threatened to harm their equipment – as well as the photographers – unless they put their cameras down.
• Hunter Hayes – He’s headlining the SRO “CMT on Tour: Hunter Hayes’ Let’s Be Crazy” which kicks off tonight in Knoxville, Tennessee. The 12th annual trek entails 24 shows in 21 cities. Ashley Monroe joins Hayes as special guest.
• Lee Brice – Beginning tonight in Boston, he’s partnering with the House of Blues to headline the 15-city “The Otherside Tour”. Brice has had 3 back-to-back #1 country songs from his 2012 “Hard 2 Love” album.
• P!nk – She’s extending her “Truth About Love Tour” to a total of 60 shows. The 34-stop 2nd leg begins tonight in Oakland CA and wraps December 14th in Atlanta. The visually stunning stage production includes many of the biggest hits from her 7-album repertoire.
• Robin Thicke – A new TV ad for Beats Pill speakers featuring him performing “Blurred Lines” has been banned in Britain following complaints about sexual undertones. It pictures Thicke and 3 models in see-through nurses’ uniforms dancing around with Dr Dre’s latest accessory.
• Stone Temple Pilots w/Chester Bennington – While they just released their new EP, “High Rise”, Bennington assures fans that he is devoted to both STP and Linkin Park, revealing he is soon set to record a new album with his original band.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
A BS selection of movies in the making …
• “The Coup” – This new action thriller starring Owen Wilson, Pierce Brosnan, and Lake Bell begins production in Thailand at the end of the month. “The Coup” follows an American family living in Southeast Asia who get caught up in the middle of a violent revolution. They must flee to safety while being hunted by a murderous rebel leader.
• “The Interview” – James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Lizzy Caplan star in a comedy of errors set in North Korea. The film revolves around a handsome talk show host and his producer who find themselves in way over their heads when they get involved in a plot to assassinate the prime minister of North Korea. The project has begun shooting in Vancouver BC this week.
• “Masters Of the Universe” – The writer behind “The Pirates Of the Caribbean” franchise is bringing cartoon hero ‘He-Man’ back to the bigscreen. Screenwriter Terry Rossio is working on a reboot of the 1987 movie based on the Mattel toys, which starred Dolph Lundgren as the musclebound prince and Frank Langella as his evil nemesis ‘Skeletor’.
• “The Seventh Juror” – A half-century after the story was used in a 1963 episode of TV’s “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour”, a feature film version of Francis Didelot’s thriller novel is in development. The courtroom-based tale centers around a man who is assigned to jury duty at the trial for a murder … that he committed. No casting has been announced as yet.
• “The Theory of Everything” – Eddie Redmayne & Felicity Jones star in this bio-film about celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking. The movie is inspired by his wife Jane Hawking’s memoir, “Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen”, and details the relationship between the Cambridge University cosmology student and the arts student he fell in love with in the 1960s.

THE NEW MUSIC:
Record companies are looking to tempt fans away from MP3s by releasing albums in a new crystal-clear Blu-Ray format. Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” and Nirvana’s “Nevermind” are among the first albums to be re-mastered in the new hi-def format, officially called Pure Audio. Listeners need both a Blu-Ray player and a stereo system to play the discs, which are touted as delivering sound ‘as it was intended by the artist’. The new system launched in France earlier this year, where the initial batch of 35 titles has already achieved sales of 500,000-plus. (Will you pay more for better sound … or just continue to pirate MP3s?)
– Forbes.com

DANGERS OF DROWSY DRIVING:
Drowsy driving may be a bigger public safety issue than drunk driving, since there’s no Breathalyzer to judge if you’ve had enough sleep. University of Pennsylvania researchers have found that people who sleep 6 hours or less a night are almost 3 times more likely to nod off behind the wheel. If you must travel when you’re running low on shuteye, try these tips …
• Drive during daylight hours. The most dangerous time to drive is between 1-and-6 am.
• Even slight dehydration reduces alertness, so drink at least 8 oz of water per hour to increase concentration.
• If you need to pull over, set an alarm on your phone for a 15-minute power nap, since it’s harder to recover from a longer snooze.
– CBS News

THE OUTFIT APP:
Women with bulging closets who still feel they have nothing to wear can turn to new apps that will help them find designer dresses to rent or to swap clothes with other fashionistas. iPhone app ‘99dresses’ lets women refresh their wardrobe by swapping clothes, shoes, and accesories with other people. The ‘Rent the Runway’ app is one of the new ways fashionable women are borrowing designer clothes and accessories. It even allows shoppers to take photos of clothes they see in stores and then find similar garments to rent. (What’s the worst thing that ever happened when you lent out clothing?)
– Reuters.com

HOW TO MAKE BUSINESS TRAVEL MORE FUN:
A new University of Alabama finds the stress of international business trips can reduce your job performance by as much as 38%. A few ways to make the experience more chill …
• Pad Time into Your Stay – Take an extra day both on the way in and out of your destination.
• Consider Small Hotels – They offer more personalized service and can be more convenient.
• Call Home Daily – Ring up your wife and kids, or if you’re unattached then call your mom.
• Find a Local Guide – It helps you get your bearings and gives you face time with a local.
• Spend More Time at the Airport – Arriving early reduces stress. And major airports are now entertainment centers, with top-class shopping , restaurants, spas, and bars to divert travelers.
– Condensed from MensHealth.com

SOUND SUPERSTITION:
Surprise! Knocking on wood actually works. It and other superstitious rituals may reverse bad luck, finds new research from the National University of Singapore. In experiments, participants who tried to undo jinxes by performing physical actions felt more secure about their fates than those who did not. Seems when you do things that exert force away from yourself it simulates pushing away bad luck. The resulting increase in confidence often leads to a positive outcome. (As the Bud Light NFL ads now claim … it’s only weird if it doesn’t work.)
– Excerpted from Express.co.uk

PUBLIC SPEAKING 101:
A few tips from experts on talking in front of groups, no matter how big or small …
• Exude non-threatening, natural confidence.
• Sit or stand in a way that’s open and similar to those listening to you.
• Don’t rush your words; when you speak too quickly, your body language looks awkward.
• Speaking while holding any device in your hand will make you seem closed off.
• And, contrary to common belief, excessive eye contact is abnormal and may actually dissuade your audience from buying into what you’re saying.
– “Psychological Science”

TOUCHY-FEELY:
Disney researchers have found a way for people to ‘feel’ the texture of objects seen on a flat touchscreen. The technique involves sending tiny vibrations through the display that let users sense the shallow bumps, ridges, and edges of an object. To fool the brain into thinking it is touching a real feature, the vibrations imparted via the screen artificially stretch the skin on a fingertip so that a bump is felt even though the touchscreen surface is smooth. The more pronounced the feature, the greater the vibration is needed to mimic its feel. (Just imagine the applications this technology will generate!)
– Sourced from BBC News

DID YOU KNOW?
New research has found that the best way to get served in a crowded bar is to stand squarely facing the bar and look directly at the bartender.
– “Daily Telegraph”

BS CHRONOMETER 10.10.13

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1954 [59] David Lee Roth, Bloomington IN, classic rock singer (Van Halen-“Panama”, “Jump”)

1967 [46] Mike Malinin, Washington DC, rock drummer (Goo Goo Dolls-“Give a Little Bit”, “Iris”)

1972 [41] Dean Roland, Stockbridge GA, alt-rock singer-guitarist (Collective Soul-“December”, “Shine”)

1973 [40] Mario Lopez, San Diego CA, TV personality (“The X Factor” since 2012, “Extra!” since 2011)

1982 [31] Dan Stevens, Croydon UK, TV actor (‘Matthew Crawley’ on “Downton Abbey” 2010-12, who left the series to pursue literary interests … so his character had to be killed off)

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Angel Food Cake Day”, honoring the dessert every starving dieter touts as being ‘fat-free’ … just before inhaling it in its entirety.

• “World Mental Health Day”, a day for global mental health education and awareness. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, which operates in more than 150 countries.

• “World Porridge Day”, a celebration of Scotland’s traditional national dish. It began in the wee Scottish Highlands village of Carrbridge (home of the annual “World Porridge Making Championship”) as a fundraiser to help feed needy children. So how do you like your gruel?
NET: http://www.goldenspurtle.com/world-porridge-day

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2001 [12] Former frontman Dennis DeYoung sues Styx for touring and singing his songs without him (he left in 1999 due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)

TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1983 [30] Tom Monaghan (Domino’s Pizza) becomes owner of the Detroit Tigers, promising his team will win the next year’s World Series or the entire season is free (he proves to be right)

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1976 [37] Greece’s 98-year-old Dimitrion Yordanidis becomes ‘Oldest Person to Complete a Marathon’ (he’s even older when finally finishing 7 hours, 33 minutes later)

AND REMEMBER . . .
[Fri] “Captain Phillips”; “Machete Kills”; “Romeo & Juliet” open in movie theaters
[Fri] International Day Of the Girl
[Fri] Coming Out Day
[Sat] Family Bowling Day
[Sun] Halloween Costume Swap Day
[Mon] Thanksgiving Day (Canada)
This Week Is … Fire Prevention Week
This Month Is … LGBT History Month

BULL’S BITS

FUN FACTS ABOUT TURKEYS:
Just in time for Thanksgiving, a few odd things about the big bird you likely didn’t know …
• Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. They make a clicking noise.
• A 15-lb turkey usually has about 70% white meat and 30% dark meat.
• Turkeys have been bred to have white feathers as they leave no spots under the skin when plucked.
• Israelis eat the most turkey … 28 lbs per person annually.
• Eating turkey doesn’t cause you to feel sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner. It’s likely the carbohydrates (potatoes, buns, stuffing, etc) that are the cause.
• The 5 most popular ways to serve leftover turkey are: Sandwich, stew or soup, salad, casserole, and stir-fry.
– University of Illinois

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Ah, the pitter-patter of little feet around the house. There’s nothing like having a midget for a butler.

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
If left alone by humans and predators, which animal has the longest maximum lifespan?
a. Cow
b. Whale [CORRECT. A healthy whale might live into its 90s; an ostrich 60; a cow late 40s.]
c. Turkey
– “Readers Digest Book of Facts”

BS PHONE STARTER:
Where in this country is the absolute worst place to live?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: According to “Men’s Health”, the typical guy gains 10 lbs while doing THIS.
Answer: Helping his wife through pregnancy.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
People can be divided into 3 groups: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what the heck happened.