Tuesday, October 1, 2024 — Edition: #7804
You Really Know Your Sheet!
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Julia Roberts will receive an honorary tribute at the 50th edition of the César Award, France’s equivalent to the Oscars. The ceremony will take place on Feb. 28 at the Olympia theater in Paris. The Cesar academie said in a statement: “Julia Roberts fascinates, she is a source of inspiration and an icon of world cinema… (she) is not just a movie star, she’s also an icon of popular culture, and her influence extends far beyond her performances.” The Honorary Cesar Award, which pays tribute to artists and filmmakers’ career achievements, has previously been handed out to stars such as Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz, Robert Redford and George Clooney.
-Variety
★ Sean “Diddy” Combs is no longer on suicide watch after being placed under strict supervision during his stay in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. The embattled rapper is also said to be getting visits from his family members as he prepares for his trial this month. Diddy’s lawyer also recently shared that the rapper is very optimistic about his situation and has “strong resolve.” Diddy has been denied bail twice for being a “danger” to society and a flight risk.
-TheBlast
★ Anna Delvey is standing by her comments on “Dancing with the Stars”. The convicted con artist addressed the now viral comment she made after her elimination from the show while chatting to Tori Spelling on her podcast. Delvey, who was voted off in a double elimination with Spelling on Sept. 24, shocked fans when host Julianne Hough asked her what she was taking away from her experience and she bluntly replied, “Nothing.” When asked by Spelling why she made the comment, Delvey said: “Because that was the truth. You guys told me what I’m supposed to do. I tried to do it and then I still was rejected. And, I’m taking away nothing…because your advice was worthless.” She also called her and Spelling being voted off “an attempt of an embarrassment for us to get eliminated before [contestants] Eric [Roberts] and Reginald [VelJohnson]”, and said that she believes she and Spelling were better dancers.
-People
★ Hoda Kotb’s surprise announcement last week that she will be stepping down as anchor of NBC’s “Today” was in part because the network asked her to take a pay cut, Puck News says. She reportedly earned more than $20 million a year, a salary network executives told her couldn’t be justified, due to the changing broadcast landscape. The report says that execs “loved Hoda and knew her value to the brand, but…such stratospheric contracts were no longer justifiable” due in part to the steep ratings decline affecting “Today” and competitors like “Good Morning America”.
-TheWrap
★ George Clooney’s a whole lot richer after selling his L.A.-area home — and, now we know who bought it. TMZ reports sources as saying model Olivia Culpo and San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey scooped up the Fryman Canyon home for just over $14 million. Clooney purchased the 6-bedroom house from Stevie Nicks nearly 30 years ago for $2.2 million.
-TMZ
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC/Global): Lady Gaga, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
• “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Sarah Paulson, Jack Antonoff, Teddy Swims
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Chris Hayes, Brittany Howard
• “After Midnight” (CBS/Global): Preacher Lawson, Rachel Scanlon, Ian Karmel
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): Kate McKinnon, Zachary Quinto
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): Jenna Lyons, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg
• “The Daily Show” (COM): Paola Ramos, host Michael Kosta
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): Kate McKinnon, Patrice Jetter and Ted Passon
• “The Talk” (CBS): Uzo Aduba, Rea Ann Silva; Ariana Madix guest co-hosts
• “Live With Kelly and Mark” (ABC/CTV): Paul Reiser, Barry Sonnenfeld, Andy Grammer performs with Maddie & Tae
• “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Check local listings): Roy Wood Jr., “Sockey” Cooper Koch; “Daddy Doula”, Jade Iovine; guest host Michael Bublé
• “The Drew Barrymore Show” (Check local listings): Mikel Welch, Dina Lombardi, Eitan Bernath
• “The Jennifer Hudson Show” (Check local listings): Doug Emhoff
• “US Vice Presidential Debate” (Check local listings): The vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz.
• “Murder in a Small Town” (Fox): While celebrating their high school reunion, several former classmates of Cassandra’s discover a dead body at the marina.
• “Austin City Limits” (PBS): Season 50 premiere: Kacey Musgraves
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Sabrina Carpenter – Friday, her 6th LP “Short n’ Sweet” was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. That means it has moved more than 1 million units, becoming her first album to earn the certification. The news comes a month after Short n’ Sweet debuted atop the Billboard 200, where stayed for 3 weeks.
• Kanye West — Fresh off of releasing 2 “Vultures” albums with Ty Dolla Sign, Ye announced the new album “Bully” and debuted the song ‘Beauty and the Beast’ during his show in China Saturday. No release date was given. He also previewed what fans are calling a finished version with a second verse of ‘530’, a song on “Vultures 2”.
• Kurt Cobain – His daughter Frances Bean Cobain is now a mom. She announced Saturday that she and husband, Riley Hawk, Tony Hawk’s eldest son, welcomed baby boy Ronin Walker Cobain Hawke earlier this month. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/3w7djcye
• Prince – His “Purple Rain” house has been listed on Airbnb. Paying guests will be allowed to stay at the restored Minnesota property for the first time, with only 25 one-night stays available. According to the listing by members of his band The Revolution, “The whole place is a tribute-nay, a shrine-to both the movie itself and the moment in time that launched Prince into the stratosphere.” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/3zwyedfz
• Oasis — has announced the North American leg of their hugely anticipated 2025 reunion tour. Following the news of a UK and Ireland tour in August, the group has booked a gig at Rogers Centre in Toronto August 24, and at stadiums in Chicago, East Rutherford NJ, Los Angeles and Mexico City. They last played shows in North America 16 years ago. Tickets go on sale Friday. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yc8a9dja
(***Caution – content***) • Kiss — Gene Simmons is fine with being called an “a-hole”. Interview quote: “There are some, could be a large number…who think I’m an asshole. In fact, I named my second solo album ‘Asshole’, which, I thought, was akin to black people taking possession of the ‘n’ word.”
• Carrie Underwood – was not ABC’s first choice to replace Katy Perry on “American Idol”. Taste of Country reports that the network first had its sights set on Miley Cyrus to become a judge. Underwood is reportedly earning half the salary that Perry did. But that still amounts to about $12 million per season, roughly the same amount that Luke Bryan earns on the show.
• Luke Combs — is making plans to help those affected by Hurricane Helene. He wrote on social media that he is “Absolutely heartbroken for everyone impacted”, and he and his team “have been making some calls and I think we’ve got something really special lined up to help the Carolinas as much as we can. More details to come ASAP.” LINK: https://tinyurl.com/5n7ud5me
• Dustin Lynch – has enlisted alt rockers Sister Hazel to open his show at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Nov. 6. Tickets are available now, with a portion of sales going to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/2wtsjyb8
SHOOTING THE BULL
POST-POSTING POSTULATING:
You might want to check in with your favorite boomers, because a new copypasta is spreading around the internet. A what? A copypasta is a chunk of text that encourages people to copy and paste it to their own social media profiles, and can be seen as ‘spam’ of sorts. Well, here’s the latest: Nearly 800,000 people have already shared the fake “Goodbye Meta AI” post on Instagram. The image, which asks people to reshare it, says it denies Meta the right to scrape a user’s posts and photos to train Meta AI. But according to Meta, making a public declaration about it doesn’t do anything. Even celebrities like James McAvoy, Ashley Tisdale, and Tom Brady have shared the post. Experts on this kind of thing admit that while the post is bogus, peoples’ anxiety about the onslaught of AI is real. And if you want to make sure your posts aren’t used to train AI, simply make your accounts private. But remember: Meta has probably already been using anything you’ve uploaded to its platforms as far back as 2007 to train its model, Meta AI. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/4wpbfxum
(Well – Ok then. Carry on!)
(Yeah, make your accounts private, so they can only be seen by yourself, those closest to you, and by Mark Zuckerberg!)
-StudyFinds
WORK PERKS:
Some companies these days are expanding their employee benefits coverage to include things like elder care and paid time off for the death of a pet, in an effort at increasing worker loyalty, retention and ultimately improving the bottom line. Some firms are also offering work perks such as coverage for expenses involved in fertility and family planning, financial and emotional support, mental health coverage, climate change and environmental support, and more. According to the 2024 US Benefits Trend Report, 59% of workers these days are looking for nutrition and exercise programs, 58% want mental fitness programs, and 44% are interested in caregiving for elderly or ill family members.
(Me? I just want someone else to make the coffee around here once in a while!)
(The sky’s the limit – What perk would convince you to bring your skills to a different employer?)
-NYPost
MAKING A TO-DO LIST – AND CHECKING THE FRONT DOOR TWICE:
With the holidays coming up, and the winter break season shortly thereafter, you couldn’t be blamed if you’re going through that dreaded annual ritual of having to put together a travel checklist. And you’re not alone. A new poll found that going on vacation is a job in itself. The survey of 2,000 Americans found these hidden gems about getting ready to get away from it all:
• The average person has at least 6 home-related tasks on their to-do list to get ready for vacation.
• Top items on the list include: last-minute shopping (70%), cleaning the house (54%), making sure friends and family have a key to the house (50%), unplugging appliances (38%), and setting lights on a timer (28%).
The poll also revealed that vacationers will do 2 “last looks” around the house, on average, to make sure nothing has been forgotten and everything is in order. Despite that, nearly 22% end up turning the car around and going back home because they forgot something — or need to do another “last look.” 40% of the time, that is so they can re-check that they locked the front door. Good plan, too: 8% of respondents said they have returned home after vacation to find that the door was unlocked.
(…which is very handy when you also forgot your keys!)
(Just SIX tasks on the to-do list to get ready for vacation? I have that many items on my list when I’m getting ready to walk the dog!)
-StudyFinds
BEST AMERICAN EATS:
This is according to a new ranking by CNN Travel. To qualify, foods didn’t have to be invented by Americans, but the list celebrates the country’s “capacity for turning favorites from other countries into our own”, often sending “reformulated food back out into the wider world.” Here is the top-20 (and not a hot dog in sight!)
• Barbecue
• Fried okra
• Cobb salad
• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Fry bread
• Red beans and rice
• Hamburger
• Apple pie
• Poke
• Chili
• Clam chowder
• General Tso’s chicken
• Reuben sandwich
• Grits
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Gumbo
• Mission burrito
• Banana pudding
• Spaghetti and meatballs
• Eggs Benedict
(This sounds like my last tour of the free samples area at Costco!)
-CNN
DID YOU KNOW?
Moo Deng, the viral baby pigmy hippo, now has her own crypto, because, of COURSE she does. Given the sudden popularity of the Thai national treasure whose name roughly translates as “bouncy pork,” it was only a matter of time before someone turned her into a digital asset. And it’s also no surprise Moo Deng Coin has shot up 1,400% since it was created less than 3 weeks ago. But memecoins, no matter how cute, are not a smart financial play, according to experts. Like any fun internet sensation, memecoins tend to have a short lifespan, soaring as they inspire FOMO in crypto traders – then tanking shortly after. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/ye2yuu4n
-CNN
BS CHRONOMETER 10.01.24
TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “October” arrives. ‘October’ actually means ‘8th month,’ but has been the 10th month ever since New Year’s Day was moved from March to January. At other times in history, October has been called ‘Germanicus’, ‘Herculeus’, and ‘Faustinus’. So, happy First of Faustinus!
• “Homemade Cookies Day”. What’s the absolute best kind? Chocolate chip? Oatmeal & raisin? Peanut butter? Shortbread? Dirt balls?
• “Pumpkin Spice Day”. It was 2003 when the flavor started taking over the world every fall! The first Pumpkin Spice Latte was created in the “Liquid Lab” at Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters that year, and within a decade, it became the company’s top-selling drink, with over 200 million sold.
• “International Day of Older Persons”, an annual observance begun by the UN to recognize the contributions of older persons and to examine issues that affect their lives.
• “International Music Day”, initiated in 1975 by Lord Yehudi Menuhin to encourage the promotion of musical art among all sections of society.
• “CD Player Day”. Between peak popularity of audio cassettes and the MP3, compact discs were the most popular way to listen to music in parts of the 1980s and 1990s, and every CD needed a CD player! (***See ‘Today’s First’, below***)
• “World Vegetarian Day”, to create awareness of the ethical, environmental, health, and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. (My friend really changed when she became a vegetarian…It’s like I’ve never seen herbivore!) LINK: http://www.worldvegetarianday.org
• “National Day of the People’s Republic of China”, honoring the PRC’s founding on October 1, 1949. It’s celebrated throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau with a variety of festivities, including fireworks and concerts.
• “International Coffee Day”. Even though we celebrated “National Coffee Day” on Sunday, we think coffee deserves more than one special day! (I love drinking coffee at work. Not only do you get a coffee break, you get a bathroom break 20 minutes later!)
• “International Raccoon Appreciation Day. It celebrates all animals that are misunderstood and who are known as being pests or “nuisance animals,” but are actually an important part of their ecosystem. (***Some Fun Facts about Racoons…like the fact that they were named after their hands! LINK: https://tinyurl.com/7txwvk44 ***)
• “Less Than Perfect Day”, a day to accept that it’s okay to not be perfect. Today, remember that we all make mistakes and that we should try hard at everything we do, but not so hard that we stress ourselves out. (I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken…)
AND REMEMBER . . .
[Wed] Name Your Car Day
[Wed] International Day of Non-Violence
[Thurs] Look at the Leaves Day
[Fri] Cinnamon Roll Day
This Week is…Walk Your Dog Week
This Month is…ADHD Awareness Month
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1924 [100] Jimmy Carter, Plains GA, American politician (39th US President, serving 1977-81)/Human rights activist (Nobel Peace Prize 2002)/longest-lived president in US history
1935 [89] (Dame) Julie Andrews, Walton-on-Thames England, movie actress (“The Princess Diaries”, “The Sound of Music”, “Mary Poppins”)/Broadway actress (“Victor/Victoria”, “My Fair Lady”)
1950 [74] Randy Quaid, Houston TX, movie actor (“Independence Day”, “Vacation” movies)/brother of Dennis Quaid
1956 [68] Theresa May, Sussex England, British politician (UK Prime Minister 2016-19)
1969 [55] Zach Galifianakis, Wilkesboro NC, movie actor (“The Hangover” films, “The Muppets”)/web host (“Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis” 2008-18) COMING UP… “Lilo & Stitch” 2025
1980 [44] Sarah Drew, Charlottesville VA, TV actress (‘Dr April Kepner’ on “Grey’s Anatomy” 2009-22)
1989 [35] Brie Larson, Sacramento CA, movie actress (Oscar for “Room”, ‘Captain Marvel’ aka ‘Carol Danvers’ in “Captain Marvel” and “Avengers: Endgame”)
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
2009 [15] David Letterman reveals on the “Late Show” that he’s the target of an attempted extortion scheme that threatened to expose his sexual relationships with a number of female staffers (A CBS producer is eventually arrested for grand larceny).
2011 [13] After 28 years together, KISS’ Gene Simmons & model Shannon Tweed tie the knot before 400 guests at a ceremony in Beverly Hills CA (basically a reality TV stunt).
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENTS . . .
1991 [33] The world’s most valuable golf glove — the crystal-studded one Michael Jackson wore – is stolen from the Motown Museum in Detroit. MC Hammer offers a $50,000 reward, but it’s recovered by police 2 days later.
2017 [07] During Jason Aldean’s headlining set at the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas strip, a man opens fire from his suite at the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel, killing 58 and injuring over 500 in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.
TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1982 [42] The first music CD is released, Billy Joel’s “52nd Street”.
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1997 [27] Gul Mohammed, the world’s shortest man at 22.1 inches (56 cm), dies at 36.
BULL’S BITS
BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ Seven people have keys with the power to restart the World Wide Web in the event of a catastrophic event.
✓ Drag from open windows can reduce a car’s fuel efficiency by 10% at high speeds.
✓ Fetuses can hiccup.
✓ A study found that politicians tend to express lies and inaccuracies through longer sentences.
✓ The 1996 film “Twister” was the first movie released on DVD.
✓ Technically, a female “dude” is known as a “dudine”.
-FactSlides, BathroomReadersInstitute
Best of BS:
BS SIGNS YOUR COMPANY WON’T WIN ‘BUSINESS OF THE YEAR’:
• Every employee gets a desk. But no chair.
• Your corporate slogan is: “You’ll get it, when we get around to it.”
• The toll-free customer service line is 1-888-GET-HOSED.
• Your company policy of ‘Pants Optional Friday’ has led to numerous employee lawsuits.
• While customers try your clothing on, you like to try theirs on.
• You have to close at 4pm every day because your mom doesn’t want strangers in the basement during dinner.
• You’ve named your store ‘Crap Mart’.
-First published in BS 2010
TODAY’S SCOOP OF BS:
➠ The world’s oldest man, who was born the year the Titanic sank, just turned 112. (He spent the day doing what he loves most: Throwing touchdown passes to his Jets teammates.)
➠ It was 53 years ago today that Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida. (Here’s an amazing fact: Many of the people who attended that day? Still in line.)
➠ It was this week in 1983 that the doors to the first Hooters Restaurant opened in Clearwater, Florida. (It must be a great feeling to serve real crappy food for 41 years and have nobody notice…)
➠ Julie Andrews is 89 today. (She played Mary Poppins . . . the most famous housekeeper who was NOT knocked up by Arnold Schwarzenegger…)
➠ Fact of the Day: If a giant mirror was placed 10 light years away from Earth, and you looked at it through a telescope, you’d theoretically see 20 years into the past. (No doubt, you’d just see Kim Kardashian staring back at herself when she was 23!)
BS WEB GOODIE:
Perfectly executed – wait for the end: https://tinyurl.com/5d98jzfe
BS RANDOM JOKE:
I’d like to have a kid, but I’m not sure I’m ready to spend 10 years of my life constantly asking someone where his shoes are.
☎ BS PHONE STARTER:
What movie line do you randomly blurt out? (“That’s not a knife”? “You’re terrible, Muriel”? “It’s only a flesh wound”?)
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
78% of us admit to doing THIS somewhat illegal activity. What is it?
Answer: Jaywalking
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.