Monday, September 30, 2024 – Edition: #7803
It’s Another Running Of The Bull!
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
[***UPDATE***] ★ Kris Kristofferson, who attained success as both a groundbreaking country music singer-songwriter and a Hollywood film and TV star, died Saturday at home in Maui HI. No cause of death was given. As an actor, he played the leading man opposite Ellen Burstyn in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” in 1974 and famously starred with Barbara Streisand in 1976’s “A Star is Born”. He also had a fondness for shoot-out Westerns and cowboy dramas. One of his most recorded songs, ‘Me and Bobby McGee’, was most famously covered by Janis Joplin, and Kristofferson was a member of country supergroup The Highwaymen with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Kris Kristofferson was 88.
-CBC, Variety
★ The “Saturday Night Live” Season 50 premiere featured a cold open that revealed Dana Carvey as Joe Biden, Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz and Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, alongside Maya Rudolph’s previously-announced return as Vice President Kamala Harris. But these were no mere one-off cameos — Carvey, Gaffigan and Samberg are set to play these roles for the duration of Season 50. Carvey takes over the Biden role from Mikey Day, who played the President last season. Jim Carrey famously played Biden during the 2020 election, but stepped out of the role after Biden was elected. Carvey was an “SNL” cast member from 1986-93, and during that time he became famous for his impression of President George H.W. Bush.
-TheWrap
★ A new lawsuit filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs alleges that, over the last 4 years, he drugged, raped and impregnated a woman during an abusive relationship that only ended in July. Combs is now an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being arrested on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution, among other crimes. The victim in this new allegation is identified only as Jane Doe in legal documents. Meanwhile, his lawyer says Diddy will fight his legal charges to the bitter end, and not accept a plea deal. Marc Agnifilo says Diddy claims innocence, so there is no reason to take a plea deal — even if prosecutors offer it.
-TheWrap, TMZ
★ Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s new film “The Wild Robot” booted up with a better-than-expected $35 million opening weekend domestically. Director Chris Sanders’ film was originally projected to make $24-30 million in its opening weekend, but exceeded those projections to take the box office crown from “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which took in about $16 million. Tim Burton’s horror comedy had reigned over the charts for the past 3 weeks. Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” finally hit theaters after debuting at the Cannes Film Festival, but only made about $4.6 million, less than projections of $5-7 million.
-Variety
★ This “Bridesmaids” star is now married. Rebel Wilson and longtime partner Ramona Agruma tied the knot in a wedding ceremony on the Italian island of Sardinia, on Saturday, according to reports. The two exchanged vows a year and a half after announcing their engagement, and more than 2 years after Wilson went public with her relationship with the fashion designer, while coming out at the same time. Both are 44.
-E!
★ Dame Maggie Smith’s “Downton Abbey” and “Harry Potter” families are among the Hollywood figures who have paid tribute to the Oscar-winning actress, who died Friday at age 89. Daniel Radcliffe said Smith “was a fierce intellect, a gloriously sharp tongue, could intimidate and charm in the same instant and was, as everyone will tell you, extremely funny.” Downton star Hugh Bonneville said in a statement: “She was a true legend of her generation and thankfully will live on in so many magnificent screen performances.”
-HollywoodReporter
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC/Global): Gwen Stefani, Mookie Betts
• “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Kate McKinnon, Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler, Jelly Roll
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Don Cheadle, Malcolm Gladwell
• “After Midnight” (CBS/Global): Mitra Jouhari, Anna Seregina, Luke Mones
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): Alicia Keys, Alex Moffat
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): Christian Siriano
• “The Daily Show” (COM): Host Jon Stewart
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Dana Bash
• “The Talk” (CBS): Sterling K. Brown, Chris Sullivan; guest co-host Tabitha Brown
• “Live With Kelly and Mark” (ABC/CTV): Liam Hemsworth, Felicity Huffman, Gavin DeGraw
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Check local listings): Lily Collins, Ashley Park and Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Lawrence Zarian, Amy Yasbeck and Jason Ritter, Brigitte Calls Me Baby
• “The Drew Barrymore Show” (Check local listings): Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jay Pharaoh, Cristina Ferrare
• “The Jennifer Hudson Show” (Check local listings): Alfonso Ribeiro
• “The Voice” (NBC): The Blind Auditions Part 2
• “9-1-1: Lone Star” (Fox): A major train derailment causes multiple injuries; Tommy makes a bold move in her relationship with Trevor; Wyatt asks Owen to give Judd his job back. (Followed by a new episode of “Rescue: HI-Surf”.)
• “Saving a Generation: The Fentanyl Crisis” (CW): How fentanyl has become a nationwide crisis; a look at the work being done to save the next generation of children from falling victim to the deadly drug.
• “NFL Football” (Check local listings): Seattle Seahawks @ Detroit Lions; Tennessee Titans @ Miami Dolphins
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Taylor Swift – Coldplay will break her record for most dates played at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London. The group has announced 2 more dates (Sept 7 and 8) to its run there next year, bumping the total to 10. The previous record of 8 was held by both Swift and Take That.
• The Weeknd and Playboi Carti – A few weeks after they both dropped highly anticipated solo songs, they have linked up on the new tune ‘Timeless’, which will appear on The Weeknd’s upcoming album “Hurry Up Tomorrow”. The song is co-produced by Pharrell Williams. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/2fedsd5y
• Foreigner – During their Rock Hall of Fame induction Oct. 19, Demi Lovato perform as part of a tribute to them, along with Slash, Sammy Hagar and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. Dua Lipa will perform in honor of Cher.
• Stevie Nicks – Friday, she released the new protest song ‘The Lighthouse’, inspired by the fight to reinstate abortion rights in the US. She says she wrote it in the aftermath of the 2022 decision by the US supreme court to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that Americans had a constitutional right to abortion. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/bdd73r8n
• Sarah McLachlan and Tom Cochrane – were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on Saturday, along with Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo. Nelly Furtado inducted McLachlan, while Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts paid tribute to Cochrane’s ‘Life is a Highway’, the hit song that found a second life when his band recorded it for the Pixar film “Cars.”
• Mickey Guyton – Her second album “House on Fire” arrived Friday, along with a powerful music video for its title track. She says the record is “an album of songs that I wrote to my husband about our relationship. The good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between.” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/5n737mjd
• Keith Urban – It seems his impromptu rendition of Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’, which he performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” last week, has gone viral. Right before leaving the show, Urban pulled out a banjo for a surprise performance of the song. One commenter wrote: “This man…. There is nothing he can’t do.” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/57u28fd9
• Luke Bryan – Friday, he released his 8th studio album “Mind of A Country Boy”. And while it definitely contains some rowdy party tunes like ‘But I Got a Beer in My Hand’ ‘Country On’, he says it also features some songs that “Reflect where I’m at in life”. Those include a few about parenthood, such as ‘Pair of Boots’ and ‘For the Kids’. He is father to 2 teenage boys.
SHOOTING THE BULL
CASING THE JOINT:
Don’t you just hate it when you’re in a store, and that thing that you’re trying to buy is locked up in a display case? Then, you have to find a customer service person (and you know they are few and far-between these days…), and ask them to come over with a key to open the thing up for you to make your selection. Then, THEY have to walk you over to the register with it, to make sure you aren’t going to shove it in your pocket… Well, it’s not just you (and me!). A new survey by Consumer World found that 2 out of 3 shoppers won’t bother asking a worker to access merchandise from a locked case. More than half (55%) said they usually leave, and buy the item somewhere else. 13% said they try to find a similar item elsewhere in the same store, that ISN’T under lock and key. As you probably know, stores started keeping some stuff locked up to prevent theft, but it defeats the purpose if it prevents customers from buying certain items.
(The worst part is that panicked feeling you get when you finally DO get someone to open the display case, and they stand there all fidgety, while you’re reading the label and deciding if you want to buy the thing!)
(They have to admit – it’s a lot of hoops to jump through for a stinkin’ tube of toothpaste!)
-MorningBrew
DEVICE ADVICE:
Experts are saying that there is one simple way for us to improve our work-life balance. Well, I’m not so sure that doing this is going to be ‘simple’, but according to German researchers, people who reduced their smartphone use by just one hour a day felt happier and more motivated at work — and employers benefited as well, with increased productivity. The study, published in the journal Acta Psychologica, found that study participants said they felt less depressed and more in control when they made this change. The researchers concluded that reducing smartphone use by 60 minutes per day of “non-work-related screen time”, in combination with increased physical activity “could improve employees’ work satisfaction and mental health”.
(Uh…if reducing personal cell phone use leads to increased work productivity, that kinda says something right there, doesn’t it?)
(Hold on a minute! Reduce screen time AND increase physical activity? Like, how am I supposed to post a hundred gym selfies if I do THAT?)
-CTV
NEW GOOD NEWS:
➢ It’s just about the best news I can imagine receiving on a Monday morning: Regular coffee or caffeine consumption has a protective effect against developing conditions such as coronary heart disease and stroke, the most common killers in society today, says research. As published in the Endocrine Society, 3 cups of coffee per day were associated with test subjects having a decreased likelihood of “new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity.” That refers to the presence of at least 2 serious conditions including heart attack, stroke, diabetes, insulin resistance and liver disease. Numerous previous studies have revealed the protective effects of coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption. (My coffee consumption has saved the lives of several of my co-workers, as well!)
➢ In preparation for Autumn leaf-viewing season, Virginia State Parks have equipped all 43 of its properties with special viewfinders to allow the colorblind to enjoy the spectacular fall foliage. The lenses in the viewfinders allow those with red-green Color Vision Deficiency to experience the full breadth of color observed in the autumnal leaf displays that Virginia is famous for. Red-green CVD is the most common form worldwide, affecting around 350 million people, and 13 million Americans. While people with normal color vision see over one million shades of color, those with red-green CVD are estimated to see about 10% of hues and shades. Installation began last year, led by a Chief Ranger, who is colorblind himself. One Virginian who was invited to test the new viewfinders remarked: “Y’all see this every day, huh?”
-GoodNewsNetwork
COMMON-SENSE THAT ISN’T SO COMMON:
A BuzzFeed discussion recently asked people to share the common-sense things they thought most people knew, but it turned out they did not. Here are the best responses…
☞ “The days of the year shift one day ahead each year. So, Oct. 1 this year is on a Tuesday, which means in 2025 it will be a Wednesday, and in 2026, it will be a Thursday. In leap years, the shift is 2 days.”
☞ “On plastic wrap and aluminum foil boxes, there are punch tabs on the sides that hold the roll in place.”
☞ “It’s almost always against the law not to have a house number. It is imperative for 911/EMT/police and fire departments.”
☞ “Antibiotics don’t work on viruses.”
☞ “I’m amazed when people don’t know that even-numbered highways run east–west, and odd-numbered highways run north–south (in the US)”.
☞ “The left lane on the (highway) is for *fast* drivers and passing. The right lane is for the *slow* drivers.”
☞ “When walking — down an aisle or on a sidewalk — always stay to your right. This will allow people to pass easily and avoid that awkward sidestep thing or being in the middle blocking everyone.” (Same thing on escalators, people!)
☞ “I had no idea that if you swipe on a locked iPhone screen, the camera pops up.”
☞ “Christmas is in the summertime in the Southern Hemisphere. Seems logical and something everyone knows, but some dupes think it’s snowing in South America in December.”
☞ “‘Loosen’ and ‘unloosen’ mean exactly the same thing. Look it up in any dictionary.
-BuzzFeed
DID YOU KNOW?
Nintendo is opening a museum this week, where fans of “Super Mario”, “The Legend of Zelda” and the Game Boy and Switch can find out more about the history of one of the world’s most renowned game makers. Located in Uji, Japan, near the company’s Kyoto headquarters, the museum showcases the many evolutions of Nintendo, which was founded in 1889 as a maker of playing cards. Tickets are available on the company’s website, but admission is already sold out for the next 2 months. (When they say Nintendo was created to make playing cards, does that mean for ‘Pokermon’?) LINK: https://museum.nintendo.com/en/index.html
-Reuters
BS CHRONOMETER 09.30.24
TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “Orange Shirt Day” or “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (in Canada since 2021), to recognize the legacy of residential schools, where tens of thousands of First Nations children were taken from their families and forced to attend classes that separated them from their culture. It’s a holiday for federal government employees and private-sector employees to whom the Canada Labour Code applies, plus workers in BC, MB, NS, PEI, NT, and YT, and provincial employees in NB. All are encouraged to wear an orange shirt today. LINKS: https://www.orangeshirtday.org/ https://tinyurl.com/yckhvzkf
• “Ask a Stupid Question Day”, created by some unknown keener who decided that ‘asking a stupid question is better than repairing a stupid mistake’. It’s a good excuse to pose perplexing questions like…
⇒ If our knees were bent the other way, what would a chair look like?
⇒ Why did Yankee Doodle name the feather in his hat ‘Macaroni’?
⇒ Can we spell the word ‘creativity’ however we want?
⇒ Can you be a ‘closet claustrophobic’?
⇒ If winning isn’t important … why do we keep score?
⇒ Why aren’t blueberries blue?
• “Hot Mulled Cider Day”, a day to cradle a warm cup of spiced cider in your hands, breathe in the fragrance, and then take a sip. It’s a cool-weather treat for all your senses.
• “Chewing Gum Day”. Thomas Adams received a patent on the first gum-making machine in 1871. After experimenting with different flavors, he manufactured the first flavored gum in the US, the licorice-flavored “Adams’ Black Jack”. Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit and Spearmint soon followed.
• “International Blasphemy Day”, encouraging individuals and groups to openly express criticism of religion, and blasphemy laws. It was founded in 2009 by the Center for Inquiry.
• “Podcast Day”. Celebrated since 2014. The word comes from a combination of the words “iPod” and “Broadcast”. Today, you’re encouraged to find a new podcast to listen to – or create your own! (As if everyone hasn’t already…) LINK: https://internationalpodcastday.com/
• “International Translation Day”, introduced in 1991 by the International Federation of Translators. Online translators allow you to switch from language-to-language instantly. Try translating an English message to another language then back to English. Odds are you’ll get something that’s really wonky. LINK: http://translate.google.com/#
AND REMEMBER…
[Tues] Raccoon Day
[Tues] Homemade Cookie Day
[Wed] Walk to School Day
[Thurs] Smoothie Day
This Week is…Fall Foliage Week
This Month is…Piano Month
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1935 [89] Johnny Mathis, Gilmer TX, pop standards/jazz singer (‘Misty’, ‘The Twelfth of Never’, ‘Frosty the Snowman’)/3rd best-selling artist of the 20th century, selling 360 million records
1954 [70] Barry Williams, Santa Monica CA, TV actor (‘Greg’ on “The Brady Bunch” 1969-74)
1957 [67] Fran Drescher, New York City NY, TV actress (“The Nanny” 1993-99, “Happily Divorced” 2011-13)/movie actress (“Spinal Tap”, Cadillac Man”)/current president of SAG-AFTRA
1958 [66] Marty Stuart, Philadelphia MS, country-bluegrass singer-instrumentalist (‘Tempted’, w/Travis Tritt-‘The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’’)
1961 [63] Eric Stoltz, Whittier CA, movie actor (“Mask”, “Some Kind of Wonderful”)/TV actor (“Mad About You”)
1963 [61] Eddie Montgomery, Danville KY, country singer (Montgomery Gentry-‘Back When I Knew It All’)/brother of John Michael Montgomery
1964 [60] Robby Takac, Buffalo NY, rock bassist-singer (Goo Goo Dolls-‘Slide’, ‘Iris’)
1971 [53] Jenna Elfman, Los Angeles CA, TV actress (“Dharma & Greg” 1997-2002, “Fear the Walking Dead” 2018-23)/movie actress (“Friends With Benefits”)
1975 [49] Marion Cotillard, Paris France, movie actress (“The Dark Knight Rises”, “Midnight in Paris”) COMING UP… “The Ice Tower” 2025
1982 [42] Lacey Chabert, Purvis MS, TV actress (“Party of Five” 1994-2000)/movie actress (“Mean Girls”, more than 30 Hallmark Channel films)
1982 [42] Kieran Culkin, New York NY, movie actor (“Father of the Bride” movies, “Igby Goes Down”)/TV actor (“Succession” 2018-23, “Solar Opposites” since 2022)/brother of Macaulay Culkin
1984 [40] T-Pain (Faheem Najm), Tallahassee FL, hip-hop/R&B singer-songwriter (Flo-Rida ft. T-Pain-‘Low’, Buy U a Drank’ ft. Yung Joc)/2019 winner in season 1 of “The Masked Singer”
1992 [32] Ezra Miller, Wyckoff NJ, movie actor (“Justice League”, “The Flash”, “Fantastic Beasts” movies)
2003 [21] Bella Ramsey, Nottingham England, TV actress (“The Last of Us” since 2023, “Game of Thrones” 2016-19)
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1960 [64] “The Flintstones” debuts. It is the first animated series to hold a prime-time slot on TV.
2017 [07] “Let’s Make a Deal” host Monty Hall dies at 96.
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1995 [29] Mariah Carey’s ‘Fantasy’ becomes the second single to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 It stays at the top for 8 weeks. (The first was Michael Jackson’s ‘You Are Not Alone’.)
2012 [12] Faith Hill becomes the first country artist to debut a song on Twitter, when she posts ‘American Heart’.
2021 [03] 95-year-old Tony Bennett releases “Love For Sale”, an album of standards with Lady Gaga, making him the Guinness record holder as the oldest person to release an album of new material.
TODAY’S FIRST . . .
2004 [20] The first images of a live Giant Squid in its natural habitat are taken 600 miles (965 km) south of Tokyo, Japan.
BULL’S BITS
BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate from high school.
✓ 38% of men sleep in a room other than the bedroom at least once a month.
✓ Ear wax is actually a type of sweat.
✓ The big toe carries the most weight of all the toes, bearing about 40% of the load.
✓ Being hungry causes serotonin to drop, causing anxiety, stress, anger, and sadness.
✓ A man named Ronald MacDonald robbed a Wendy’s restaurant in 2005.
-BestLife, WhattheFFacts
Best of BS . . .
BS MAN-COLD SYMPTOMS:
• Complains every 2 minutes that he is “dying” — but never actually does.
• Wants Mommy.
• Inability to do anything for himself…
• …he can, however play video games.
• Sneezes that make the earth tremble.
• Visits doctor, refuses medicine.
• Hungry. But he’s ALWAYS hungry.
• Can still go to weekend football game, despite being on deathbed all week.
• Confuses wife with his Mommy.
• Exaggeration, apparently.
-Twitter, first published in BS in 2021
TODAY’S SCOOP OF BS:
➠ The world’s oldest man just celebrated his 112th birthday. (He claims the key to a long life is to be good, don’t smoke, and stay away from beer joints. Asked if he had any regrets, he said: Being good, not smoking, and staying away from beer joints!)
➠ Hoda Kotb has announced that she is leaving “The Today Show.” (She said that she wants to day-drink in the private sector…)
➠ Bill Gates revealed that the ‘Control-Alt-Delete’ function on Microsoft computers was created by mistake. (Even more surprisingly: Microsoft’s “Bing” was created on purpose!)
➠ US Congress has reached an interim agreement on the budget, avoiding a government shut-down tomorrow. (That avoids a situation where thousands of government workers would do nothing, and not get paid — rather than doing nothing and getting paid…)
➠ A study claims that money can’t bring you happiness. But education, leisure, and kids do. (…which all require money. My point: I’ll never be happy…)
BS WEB GOODIE:
True: https://tinyurl.com/3t5pbz2e
BS RANDOM JOKE:
One thing that me and my dog have in common is that we both never want me to go to work…
BS U-PICK TRIVIA:
• What color of ink is used to describe a financial loss?
a) Black
b) Green
c) Red [CORRECT]
d) None – couldn’t afford any
• Which word best describes a person with a Type-A personality?
a) Competitive [CORRECT]
b) Funny
c) Insincere
d) Incarcerated
• What is a ‘farthing’?
a) A creature from “Lord of the Rings”
b) An old British coin [CORRECT]
c) A unit of land equal to 7 hectares
d) What you hear a lot of after Taco Tuesday
-JetPunk
☎ PHONE STARTER:
What childhood dream are you still working on?
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
A study found that while the average man can do THIS, only 10% of women can. What is it?
Answer: Whistle
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
When someone tells you “No”, it doesn’t mean you can’t do it, it simply means you can’t do it with them.
