Deja Moo!
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
Both Chris Brown & Mary J Blige have now denied reports that they will perform at the Michael Jackson tribute show September 26th in Vienna, Austria, meaning the biggest names still attached are now Akon, Natalie Cole and Sister Sledge, whose last major hit was 30 years ago (couple that with the fact only half the tickets are sold – purportedly due to a ‘phased release’ – and you get the feeling this project’s deader than Jermaine Jackson’s career) . . . Michael Jackson’s 70-day delay in getting buried doesn’t make the record book for celebrity wait-time because soul legend James Brown, who died December 25,2006, wasn’t interred until 75 days later (when the aroma became overwhelming) . . . 30-year-old actress Kate Hudson has been spotted wearing a diamond-encrusted band on her left ring finger while watching NY Yankees baseball star-boyfriend Alex Rodriguez play this week (looks like she hit a home-run!) . . . 36-year-old “Project Runway” host Heidi Klum, who is expecting her 4th child, says her legs and butt will ‘explode’ in her final month of pregnancy but she’s confident she’ll get back into shape quickly (making women wanna slap her) . . . The final domestic gross at the movie box office for Summer 2009 is $4.35 billion, 5% ahead of 2008, thanks in part to this summer containing an additional weekend (what recession?) . . . And famous person Lindsay Lohan has finally landed a top job – as a ‘style consultant’ for French design house Emanuel Ungaro (her work entails wearing their stuff whenever she gets into front-page-worthy trouble).
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Country Music Week” – It’s the first time in 22 years the event has been held in Vancouver. The industry symposium, ahead of Sunday’s 2009 “Canadian Country Music Awards” ceremony, includes seminars and opportunities to showcase local artists.
NET: http://www.ccma.org/cmw2009/
• “Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated/A Channel) – Pitbull (“Rebelution”).
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/CityTV) – White Lies (“To Lose My Life …”).
• “Last Call With Carson Daly” (NBC) – Ting Tings (“We Started Nothing”).
• “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS) – Top 10 list presented by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.
• “Live With Regis & Kelly” (syndicated/CTV) – Smokey Robinson (“Timeless Love”).
• “NFL Kick-Off” (NBC/NFL/TSN) – The National Football League’s 90th season opening game in Pittsburgh as the Steelers host the Tennessee Titans. Harry Connick Jr sings the anthem prior to kick-off at Heinz Field. Tim McGraw & Black Eyed Peas perform a free pre-game concert as part of the festivities.
• “Sunset Strip Music Festival” (LA) – The 2nd annual 3-day outdoor festival in Los Angeles will be both opened & closed by Ozzy Osbourne, who’s being honored as ‘Sunset Strip Icon 2009′. A 12-story billboard of the rocker has been advertising the event for the past month. (Might as well call it Ozzfest.)
• “Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” (NBC/A Channel) – Paolo Nutini (“These Streets”).
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Christina Milian – The 27-year-old singer has wed songwriter/producer The-Dream in the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. They went all out: She rented a gown for $200 while he donned a $100 rental tuxedo. Was this her idea of a ‘Dream wedding’?
• Dave Matthews Band – They’ve been selected as the ‘official band’ of ESPN’s college football coverage, providing a total of 10 songs to be utilized on game and studio telecasts across multiple platforms.
• David Bowie – Thanks to scientist Peter Jager, the classic rocker now has a species of Malaysian spider named after him. The newly-discovered giant, yellow, hairy spider has been tagged ‘Heteropoda davidbowie’.
• George Clinton – Tonight the funk pioneer is named a ‘BMI Icon’ at the organization’s annual “Urban Awards” ceremony in NYC. The designation is given to BMI songwriters & artists who have had a ‘unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers’.
• Lil Wayne – It looks like he’ll have the highest grossing hip-hop tour of the year. His 78 headlining gigs in North America since December 2008 have grossed approximately $42 million and drawn about 804,000 fans.
• Michael Jackson – Today Disneyland in Anaheim CA is expected to annouce it’s bringing back
“Captain EO”, the 17-minute 3D movie starring the late ‘King of Pop’ which was originally shown at the venue in the ‘80s & ‘90s. Jackson performs 2 songs during the presentation.
• Snow Patrol – Tonight they kick off a North America tour in St Paul MN. The band will open 6 dates for U2 along the way, in Chicago, Toronto, and Boston.
• Taylor Swift – Her worldwide album sales have now surpassed 10 million copies. Her albums have achieved Gold and Platinum certifications in 14 countries. And she’s also sold more than 20 million paid song downloads, more than any artist in country music history.
COMING ATTRACTIONS:
A BS selection of movies in the making …
• “Dark Tide” – Actress Halle Berry is in ‘advanced talks’ to star in this action-thriller about a diving instructor who returns to the deep after a near-fatal incident with a Great White Shark. The film is set to lense in South Africa later this year.
• Janis Joplin Biopic – Actress Zooey Deschanel says the bio-film about the blues icon in which
she was scheduled to star ‘seems kind of dead now’. Among the many reasons for the endless delays are the numerous royalty issues for Joplin’s life rights and music catalogue.
• “Lobo” – Guy Ritchie has signed on to direct this alien action movie, a live-action adaptation of the DC Comics bounty hunter saga that follows the exploits of a 7-foot-tall alien who is sent to Earth to track down 4 fugitives from his planet. The film is set to start production early next year.
WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL WOMEN 2009:
5. Ho Ching (CEO of Temasek, Singapore’s flagship sovereign wealth fund).
4. Cynthia Carroll (CEO of Anglo American mining company).
3. Indra Nooyi (CEO of PepsiCo).
2. Sheila Bair (Chairman, US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation).
1. Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany).
(We say the world’s most powerful woman is the dental assistant when she threatens you with the cavitron.)
– Forbes.com
WHY NOT JUST MAKE SEATS EVEN SMALLER?
British design company Design Q says it is working on plans for new sideways, staggered seating on airplanes as a cost-cutting option for airlines to maximize the number of passengers on board. The demand for such concepts could take off, as Michael O’Leary, CEO of Irish budget airline Ryanair, saying he’s open to trying new seating designs. He’s already approved the idea of ‘vertical seating’ for short flights. (Also known as ‘Standing Room Only’.)
– FoxNews.com
BS BY THE NUMBERS:
• Laughing 100 times per day provides the same cardiovascular benefits as 10 minutes of rowing. (But it won’t get you across the lake.)
• 81% of all vegetarians are women. (The other 19% are birds.)
• Studies show that 1-in-6 couples has problems conceiving. (The rest are teenagers.)
OLDIES BUT GOODIES:
Here’s Inspiration for anyone feeling a little long in the tooth. For many people, life begins at 50 … or much later. Here are a few who didn’t let age stand in their way …
• Ray Kroc – Bought first McDonald’s franchise at 52.
• Orville Redenbacher – Co-founder of Orville Redenbacher’s Popcorn at 58.
• Colonel Harland Sanders – Founded KFC at age 62.
• Tina Turner – Oldest female artist to have a #1 single at age 44. Sold out 90-venue world concert tour at age 68.
• Ronald Reagan – Became US President at age 70.
• Grandma Moses – Folk artist who started painting at 78.
– Telovation.com
THEY HAD BALLS:
The first ‘Nerf’ product arrived on the market 40 years ago this week (1969). It began as a humble orange ball created by toy developer Reyn Guyer. His team designed several games that could be played with it and marketed it to Milton Bradley. That company turned him down so Guyer took his product to Parker Bros, who bought his idea, threw out the game rules, and began selling the ball as a single product. The company named the product ‘Nerf’ after the packing material that off-roaders used to wrap around their roll-bars. (Even though made from spongy foam, ‘Nerf’ footballs have laid waste to about 804,000 living room lamps.)
– Neatorama.com
FOR THE RECORD:
• 75-year-old Al Fischer of Massapequa NY has reached a very commendable milestone: he has donated 40 gallons of blood over 58 years! The print shop operator has been giving blood since 1951 and this week bled out his 320th pint. It’s estimated he’s helped almost 1,000 people in need of a transfusion. Why’s he do it? He says he’s too cheap to give money.
– Newsday.com
• 38-year-old Suang Puangsri lives in a village 600 km (373 mi) north of Bangkok, Thailand where’s he’s adapted his house to accommodate his unusual pets … about 4,600 scorpions. It’s part of his atonement for serving the creepy crawlies on a restaurant menu for the past decade. Scorpions and insects like locusts and grasshoppers are a popular snack in Thailand.
– “China Daily”
BS SHOCKING FACT:
The US airline industry discards enough aluminum cans every year to build nearly 58 Boeing 747s, and enough paper to fill a football field-size hole 230-feet-deep (70 meters).
– “Scientific American”
BS CHRONOMETER 09.10.08
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1949 [60] Bill O’Reilly, NYC, right wing TV personality (“The O’Reilly Factor”)
1950 [59] Joe Perry, Lawrence MA, rock guitarist (Aerosmith-“I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing”, “Dream On”)
1960 [49] Colin Firth, Grayshott UK, movie actor (“Mamma Mia!”, “Bridget Jones’ Diary”)
1966 [43] Stevie D, Chicago IL, rock guitarist (Buckcherry-“Sorry”, “Crazy Bitch”)
1968 [41] Guy Ritchie, Hatfield UK, movie director (“RocknRolla”, “Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels”)/wed to Madonna 2000-08 UP NEXT: “Sherlock Holmes” (December 25); “Lobo” (2010).
1974 [35] Ryan Phillippe (FIL-uh-pee), New Castle DE, movie actor (“Flags Of Our Fathers”, “Crash”)/ex-Mr Reese Witherspoon (1999-2007)
1980 [29] Mikey Way, Belleville NJ, alt-rock bassist (My Chemical Romance-“Famous Last Words”, “Welcome to the Black Parade”)/younger brother of frontman Gerard Way
1984 [25] Matthew Followill, Oklahoma City OK, rock guitarist (Kings of Leon-“Use Somebody”, “Sex on Fire”)
1988 [21] Jordan Staal, Thunder Bay ON, NHL center (2009 Stanley Cup-Pittsburgh Penguins)
BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “New York Fashion Week” through September 17th in NYC, when we find out what’s hot and what’s not for Spring 2010.
NET: http://www.mbfashionweek.com/newyork/
• “Sewing Machine Day”, on the date that the sewing machine was
patented in 1846. The first sewing machines were actually made in
France in the 1830s. What’s the ugliest thing mom ever whipped up for
you to wear on hers?
• “Swap Ideas Day”, set aside to encourage us to collaborate on creative thinking and new solutions to old problems. (So your co-workers can take all the credit.)
• “Teacher’s Day” in China, when students show their appreciation by presenting gifts such as cards and flowers.
• “Toronto International Film Festival”, now considered 2nd most prestigious in the world after Cannes, running through September 19th. “Creation”, starring Paul Bettany as world-renowned scientist Charles Darwin, opens the 34th edition of the festival. More than 330 films from 64 countries will screen over the 10 days.
NET: http://www.tiff.net
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1958 [51] A chemical manufacturer announces it will unleash its pungent ‘Aroma-rama’ and ‘Smell-o-Vision’ technologies on movie theaters (fortunately, most theater-goers think the idea stinks)
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
1964 [45] Rod Stewart’s 1st (less-than-successful) recording, “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”, is released (if he released that nowadays, he’d get arrested!)
TODAY’S FIRST . . .
1897 [112] 1st convicted ‘Drunk Driver’ rams a taxi-cab into a building (George Smith, London UK)
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
2008 [01] The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator, described as the ‘Biggest Scientific Experiment in History’, is powered up beneath Geneva, Switzerland (they’ll get it working any year now)
AND REMEMBER . . .
[Fri] 9/11 Remembrance Day
[Fri] “I Can Do Bad All By Myself”; “Sorority Row”; “Whiteout” open in movie theaters
[Sat] Popcorn Day
[Sat] Videogames Day
[Sat] “U2360” tour North American leg begins (Chicago IL)
This Week Is … Housekeepers Week
This Month Is … Organic Harvest Month
BULL’S BITS
BS SIGNS YOU’RE IN A CLASS WITH NON-GEEKS:
• You’re the only one raising your hand to answer questions.
• You’re the only one who brought a graphing calculator to art class.
• When the teacher says, “This will be the toughest class you ever take”, you’re the only one who says “Awesome!”.
• Everyone else seems to need help with a simple differential equation.
• They’re actually there, while you’ve sent your avatar.
• You’re the only one with a “Heroes of Physics” lunch-pail featuring Newton, Einstein, Hawking, and Planck.
• Other kids are texting on their iPhone; you’re writing an iPhone app.
• The kid next to you asks to borrow a pen but doesn’t specify the color and when you respond as such she just stares at you blankly.
– Abridged from BBspot.com
BS PHONE STARTER:
What kind of music goes best with beer drinking?
BS THINGS YOU DON’T WANNA HEAR AT THE TATTOO PARLOR:
• “Eagle? I thought you said beagle!”
• “We’re all out of red, so I used pink.”
• “There are 2 ‘O’s in Bob, right?”
• “Damn, I hate it when I get the hiccups.”
• “OOPS!”
BS RANDOM JOKE:
I can’t diet for medical reasons … it makes me HUNGRY!
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Today’s Question: On average, we first experience THIS by the age of 47.
Answer to Give Out Next Show: Becoming a grandparent.
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
Any change looks terrible at first.