BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has acquired the rights to produce a film focusing on Volkswagen’s recent emissions scandal. His Appian Way production company is teaming with Paramount Pictures to bring the fraud controversy to the bigscreen. Earlier this month author and “New York Times” journalist Jack Ewing inked a deal to delve into the controversy with a forthcoming book, and DiCaprio’s team will develop that story for the bigscreen. No director, writer, or actors for the film have yet been announced.
– WENN.com
★ Men of a certain age will find this shocking … “Playboy” magazine is going to stop publishing full-frontal nudity. The legendary adult publication, which has printed prurient pics of women since its inception 62 years ago, is undergoing a dramatic redesign in March 2016, with the biggest change being a move to tone down provocative photos of women to a PG-13 rating. CEO Scott Flanders says the change is due to the popularity of online porn. Quote: ”That battle has been fought and won.” It’s as yet undecided whether to continue publishing the magazine’s famous centerfolds.
– “New York Times”
★ And “The Notebook” author Nicholas Sparks is making sure he keeps his beloved North Carolina mansion after the breakup with his wife Catherine. It seems the estranged couple  both signed the deed for the massive family estate ‘Trent Acres’  over to the Nicholas Sparks Trust. As you’d expect the author runs the trust, so basically Catherine’s given him her share of the 24,000 square foot home. But at least she won’t be homeless; she’s already secured a $1.1 million mini-mansion just a couple miles away. The Sparks announced they were separating in January after 25 years of marriage.
– TMZ.com

TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/CTV2) – John Legend (“Love In the Future”); Meghan Trainor (“Title”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – Father John Misty (“I Love You, Honeybear”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Ratatat (“Magnifique”).
• “Late Late Show With James Corden” (CBS/M3) – Echosmith (“Talking Dreams”).
• “Monty Python & The Holy Grail” – Tonight in 500 UK theaters a 40th anniversary re-release hits the bigscreen in a sing-a-long version for a 1-night only event. There is also talk of bringing the film back to theaters internationally by the end of the year.
• “Tavis Smiley” (PBS) – Los Lobos (“Gates Of Gold”).
• “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV2) – Selena Gomez (“Revival”).

BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Janet Jackson – She’s back at #1 on the ‘Billboard 200’ albums chart with her new album, “Unbreakable”. It’s her 7th chart-topper, giving her the 3rd-most #1 albums for a female artist, behind only Barbra Streisand (10) and Madonna (8).
• John Legend – He & wife Chrissy Teigen are expecting their first child together after months of struggling to get pregnant. The couple, who wed in 2013, have taken to social media to reveal the good news.
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – They’ve scheduled a month-long North American tour of intimate venues in January and February. This will be a primer for a larger Spring tour in support of the duo’s upcoming new album, according to “Rolling Stone”. The Winter trek is booked from January 9th in Phoenix AZ to February 5th in Milwaukee WI.
• Mumford & Sons – 28-year-old Marcus Mumford & 30-year-old wife Carey Mulligan have named their 3-week-old daughter ‘Evelyn’. The actress says the name isn’t derived from any particular source, she ‘just came up with it’.
• Phil Collins – The “In the Air Tonight” singer has announced a new project with publisher Penguin Random House to write a memoir. He says he’s been approached to write a book several times, but the timing never felt right until now.
• Rita Ora – Her idea of recreating Labelle’s 1975 anthem “Lady Marmalade” with a new supergroup of female artists has taken a blow … Iggy Azalea isn’t interested. Ora has suggested a new version should feature herself, Miley Cyrus, Charli XCX, and Azalea but Iggy says: “That was an iconic moment in pop history and should be left alone.” Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Mya, and Lil Kim took a remake of the tune to the top of the charts in 2001.
• Rod Stewart – He tells Brit magazine “Event”: “Harry Styles is a good lad, I like him. But there are some people in the music business that try so hard to be different and rebellious. Like Justin Bieber … he wants so much to be a bad, bad rock star. But you either are or you’re not.”
• Taylor Swift – Her album “1989” is nearing a full year in the Top 10, as it’s now spending it’s  50th week in the zone, ranking #6 on the ‘Billboard 200’.

BEST-EVER ‘JAMES BOND’ THEMES?
With Sam Smith’s “Writing’s On the Wall” the latest in the series (from “Spectre”, out November 5th), here’s one opinion on the best all-time ‘007’ movie tunes …
1 | “Live and Let Die” by Paul McCartney (1973)
2 | “Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey (1964)
3 | “Diamonds Are Forever” by Shirley Bassey (1971)
4 | “Die Another Day” by Madonna (2002)
5 | “Nobody Does it Better” by Carly Simon (1977)
– Postmedia Network

BS CUTTING-EDGE VOCAB:
New terms entering the lingo …
• ‘Boomerang CEO’ – A chief executive officer who returns to the company from which he or she previously retired or was fired. (Steve Jobs may be one of the most famous Boomerang CEOs.)
• ‘Mindie’ – An indie music artist secretly backed by a mainstream record label; or an independent artist with mainstream success and exposure. (“They were all indie until they decided they all needed to drive a Bentley; now they’re more mindie.”)
• ‘Walking School Bus’ – A group of children who walk to school together under the supervision of one or more adults. (Presumably they walk in 2 rows of pairs and stop at all railway crossings.)

HOW FAMOUS CANDY BRANDS GOT THEIR NAMES:
• Milk Duds – When first designed in 1926 they were intended to be round, but what came out were oval-shaped candies. That’s when an assembly line worker pronounced them ‘duds’.
• Snickers – Franklin Mars, founder of the Mars Candy Company, named it after his family’s prized horse in 1930. It was an immediate hit.
• Baby Ruth – Its maker claimed it wasn’t named after baseball slugger Babe Ruth but for US president Cleveland’s daughter. Odd, considering she’d died of diphtheria 20 years previously.
• Junior Mints – Candymaker James Welch named them after his favorite Broadway play, “Junior Miss” which ran 1941-43. A later film version starred Shirley Temple.
• Tootsie Roll – Inventor Leo Hirschfield named it for his 5-year-old daughter, Clara, whom he called ‘Tootsie’. It was a popular nickname at the time, and appealed to penny-toting children.
• 3 Musketeers – First released in 1932, the name refers to the 3 different pieces of candy that used to be inside each package: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.
• Pez – When released in 1927 it was a breath mint for smokers. The name refers to ‘pfefferminz’, which is the German word for peppermint.
• Oh Henry! – According to Nestlé, the name comes from a boy who used to visit George Williamson’s candy shop in early 1900s Chicago and was asked to do errands.
• M&Ms – The two Ms signify the candy’s inventor and his benefactor: Forrest Mars, who developed it during the 1930s; and Bruce Murrie, the Hershey heir who funded him.
– Adapted from MentalFloss.com

FROM THE BS POLL VAULT:
A statistical look at who we are and the things we do …
• 75% of adults eat at least 1 grilled cheese sandwich per year.
• 73% of middle-aged men had a mullet hairdo in the ’80s or early ’90s.
• 50% of us had a goldfish as a kid.
• 30% of young adults say they would sell an organ to pay for student loan debt.
• 12% of us have left the house wearing different colored socks.
• 5% of people have asked a first date, “How much money do you make?”

SIMPLE WAYS TO AVOID FEELINGS OF ANXIETY:
According to science vlog ASAP …
✓ Stay away from WebMD … Googling your problems can actually result in more stress.
✓ If you’re starting to freak out, ask yourself, are you feeling Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired? (Just remember ‘HALT’.)
✓ Try 4-7-8 breathing. This is great for people who panic or who have insomnia. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and breath out for 8 seconds.
✓ Get a move on. Go downstairs and fetch a glass of water. Walk around the block. Pet a dog. You don’t need to run a 5K, you just need to move.
✓ Practice mindfulness. Continually practising mindful thinking helps reduce cortisol, the hormone which creates stress.
✓ Start small on scary things. With anxiety, small things can sometimes feel like a really big deal. Focusing on one small thing at a time can make your problem seem more manageable.
✓ Practice self-care. Make sure you’re aware of what triggers your anxiety and make a concerted effort to look after yourself. In fact, make this the most important thing you do.
– “Metro”

BS AMAZING FACT:
According to BBC’s James Purnell, Radio 1 plays 3,868 different tracks every month. Competitor Capital Radio plays 398.
– PopBitch.com

BS CHRONOMETER 10.14.15

TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1939 [76] Ralph Lauren (Lipshitz), Bronx NY, fashion designer (Polo, CK Jeans)/estimated net worth $8 billion (2015)

1965 [50] Steve Coogan, Middleton UK, comedian/movie actor (“Despicable Me 2 “, “Night At the Museum” films)

1974 [41] Natalie Maines, Lubbock TX, country singer (Dixie Chicks-“Travelin’ Soldier”, “Landslide”)

1978 [37] Usher (Raymond), Dallas TX, pop-R&B singer (“OMG”, “Love In This Club”)

1979 [36] Stacy Keibler, Baltimore MD, model (“Maxim”, “Stuff”)/former pro wrestler (WCW, WWE)/George Clooney’s former girlfriend

1989 [26] Mia Wasikowska, Canberra, Australia, movie actress (“Alice in Wonderland”, “The Kids Are All Right”)

BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Bald & Free Day”, honoring those with a beautiful, shiny top. You don’t have to be bald to celebrate; people who are married to, or related to a bald-headed person are also encouraged to celebrate alongside the honoree. So who’s the best-looking bald celeb?

• “Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work & School Day”, an annual event on the 2nd Wednesday of October. (‘Cause you’re just not getting picked on enough.)
NET: http://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/bring-your-teddy-bear-to-work-school-day/

• “Dessert Day”, honoring the tasty treat that tops off dinner. Nowadays just 14% of families regularly consume dessert, as opposed to 24% only 2 decades ago.

• “International Top Spinning Day”, designed as a worldwide celebration of the longtime kids’ toy on the 2nd Wednesday in October. The goal is to get 10,000 (or more)  tops spinning around-the-world. It’s project of the Spinning Top & Yo-Yo Museum in Burlington WI.
NET: http://www.topmuseum.org/20.html/

• “Lowercase Day”, a day to write without capitals. Your middle school grammar teacher might balk at the idea, but the shift button on your keyboard will thank you for the day off.

• “Muharram” begins at sundown, the first month of the Islamic calendar when “Al-Hijra”, the Islamic New Year, is observed. The month of Muharram is also the time for several other annual events and 1 of the 4 sacred months in which fighting is prohibited.

• “World Standards Day”, which honors the efforts of the thousands of experts who develop standards for measurement, electronics, and telecommunications with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of standardization to the global economy. (If they can’t even agree on a universal electrical plug, it doesn’t seem to be working.)

THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1994 [21] Writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”, starring John Travolta & Uma Thurman, opens in movie theaters (his latest, “The Hateful Eight”, opens December 25th)

TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2000 [15] The Beatles’ official autobiography, “Anthology”, reaches #1 on the “New York Times” nonfiction bestseller list

TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
2003 [12] Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman plucks a fly ball out of the air before outfielder Moises Alou can catch it in an NLCS game, causing the Cubs to lose momentum against the Marlins (Florida goes on to win the game and eventually the World Series)

2014 [01] Facebook and Apple offer to pay the cost of freezing the eggs of female employees covered by the company’s medical insurance plan (a way to help women focus on their careers if they wish to delay motherhood)

TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2012 [03] Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner jumps from the stratosphere to break the record for ‘Highest Freefall Jump’ with an altitude of 39,068 meters (128,018 feet … or 24 miles)

COMING UP . . .
[Thurs] Conflict Resolution Day
[Thurs] Global Handwashing Day
[Thurs] International Day of Rural Women
[Fri] “Bridge of Spies”; “Crimson Peak”; “Goosebumps” open in movie theaters
[Fri] Alternative Fuel Day
This Week Is … Teen Read Week
This Month Is … Toilet Tank Repair Month

BULL’S BITS

5 SIMPLE STEPS TO A HAPPIER LIFE:
✓ Go back and do everything you did one way the other way.
✓ Review all the things your parents told you. Forget about them one-by-one, then have a cocktail. Repeat daily.
✓ Don’t forget the healing power of exercise. Make a point to think about it at least once a day.
✓ Have a nap. Wake up. Have another nap.
✓ Release the need for happiness. Give up trying to control others. Stop having negative thoughts. Give up the habit of resentment. Okay, #5 is a lot.
– Thanks to Kristy Eldredge

BS RANDOM JOKE:
Trust me. I’m a professional.

BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
Stats show we consume 46 of what per person per year?
a. Pizza slices. [CORRECT]
b. Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.
c. Cows.

BS PHONE STARTER:
☎ What are the best kind of french fries? Curly Fries? Steak Fries? Sweet Potato Fries? Crinkle Cut? Poutine? Tater Tots?

BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: When women were asked, “What does your husband do that you really can’t stand?”, THIS was the #1 answer.
Answer: Tickles.

BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Teamwork is a lot of people doing what the boss says.