Bathroom Readers' Institute's Blog, page 169
May 22, 2013
Parents Just Don’t Understand: Celebrity Emancipated Minors
Recently, actor Will Smith told the British newspaper The Sun that his 14-year-old son Jaden, star of movies like The Karate Kid and the upcoming Will Smith movie After Earth, was looking into joining the ranks of other celebrity emancipated minors. It’s usually used to declare minors legal adults to either help teenagers escape abusive homes, protect financial assets or, as we’re guessing is the case with Smith, be able to work long hours on movie sets without violating child labor laws. The elder Smith seems cool with this. After all, he’s a guy who used to win Grammys for complaining about his parents.
Protect assets
Here are some other celebrity emancipated minors:
Tiffany. The ‘80s pop star best known for touring malls and covering “I Think We’re Alone Now” butted heads with her mother, Janie Williams, over control of her career during the height of her fame. In 1988, Tiffany even snuck away from home to pursue legal emancipation. Her efforts failed, so she moved in with her grandmother while her earnings were placed in a trust fund her mother couldn’t touch.
Michael Jackson. The King of Pop couldn’t stand his notoriously abusive father, Joe Jackson, and their incredibly mixed-up relationship probably helped fuel much of his bizarre behavior. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993, Michael confessed that his infamous plastic surgeries were inspired by Joe’s nasty comments about his “fat nose.” Jackson successfully won emancipation as a teenager.
Macaulay Culkin. One of the world’s most successful child actors had to put up with one of the most overbearing stage parents in the history of showbiz. While Mac was starring in movies like Home Alone, his dad worked as his manager and earned a nasty reputation around Hollywood for his boozing. After enduring his parents’ vicious custody battle (which was also a custody battle for their son’s earnings) in the mid-‘90s, Mac took both of them to court, and he successfully gained control of his earnings and cut off all contact with his father.
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Looking for a Father’s Day gift? Look no further. Our Father’s Day Sale is in full swing. 30% off the entire store and FREE shipping on order of $35 and more. Go directory to our store.
May 20, 2013
The New Fall TV Shows You Will and Won’t Be Seeing
Last week in New York, the big 5 broadcast networks (and some of the cable networks) held their annual “upfronts.” What is that? NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the CW unveil their new fall TV shows and introduce the new schedule they’ll be airing, all so advertisers can decide whether or not they want to buy commercial space.
There look to be some surefire hits on the way—ABC’s spinoff of The Avengers called Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and NBC’s The Michael J. Fox show both got a positive response. But you’ll be seeing those soon enough—what about the rest? Here are some of the more “out there” shows that were up for a spot on the fall schedule. Most of these didn’t make it…but some did!
• Big Thunder. In the late 1800s, a big city doctor and his family move to a creepy Western mining town run by an enigmatic tycoon. Like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Big Thunder is loosely based on a Disneyland ride, in this case, the Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster.
Passed on by ABC.
• Intelligence. The U.S. Cyber Command—an anti-computer-crime agency—has a secret weapon: an agent with a microchip implanted in his brain that allows him to interact with “the entire electromagnetic spectrum,” whatever that means.
Picked up by CBS.
• Gothica. A sexy soap opera in which the characters are Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dorian Gray.
Passed on by ABC.
• Super Clyde. A fast food worker decides to quite his job to become a superhero. This comedy stars Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies.
Passed on by CBS.
• Girlfriend in a Coma. Douglas Coupland’s 1998 novel was about a teenager who falls into a coma after a skiing accident the day after unknowingly becoming pregnant. The book details her boyfriend’s struggle to mature and move on from that traumatic event and raise their troubled daughter. The book ends with the end of the world. Seriously. NBC commissioned a pilot based on that novel, but in name only—it’s a comedy about a woman who wakes up from a coma only to find she has a teenage daughter she barely knows.
Picked up by NBC.
• The Ordained. An action drama about a man who is part of a well-connected New England political family who must prevent his sister from being assassinated, but first…he must leave the priesthood.
Passed on by CBS.
• The Family Guide. A teenager tries to navigate life in his crazy family, which includes an elderly, blind father and a thirtysomething mother having a midlife crisis. Oh, and the parents just divorced but they’re all still living together.
Picked up by NBC.
• Delirium. In the distant future, love is illegal and feelings are eliminated with brain surgery. In the pilot episode, a character falls in love and doesn’t want to get the surgery.
Passed on by Fox.
• Donor Party. An immature man meets a woman and her young son, and romance starts to develop. Then the man realizes the boy is the result of a years-ago sperm donation.
Passed on by NBC.
• Jessica. Remember pop star Jessica Simpson? On this show, produced by Simpson and her father/manager Joe Simpson, Jessica Simpson would have played Jessica Simpson on this show loosely based on the life of Jessica Simpson.
Passed on by NBC.
• The 100. A century in the future, the world has been destroyed by nuclear war. But a spaceship housing the last of humanity aims to repopulate and recolonize…by sending down 100 juvenile delinquents.
Picked up by The CW.
Father’s Day Sale 2013
Hello, faithful readers! As spring turns to summer, it is time once again for the BRI to gear up for our popular Father’s Day Sale. We have a great selection of new and classic releases to choose from. Here’s what you need to know:
The Sale*: From May 20th to June 16th, 2013, everything in our online store is 30% off! Plus, get FREE standard shipping for orders of $35 or more! (Enter code FD13Ship when checking out to apply free shipping.)
Shipping Reminder: Because standard shipping can take up to two weeks, order no later than Monday, June 3rd, to make sure your books arrive in time for the big day. (But if you happen to forget, you can still order Express or Next Day shipping.)
So there you have it—some great deals for a great day. Dad wouldn’t have it any other way! (And it’s way better than some spotty necktie.) Thanks for your ongoing support of our quirky book series.
*The sale is only valid in the US.
Newest Releases
Here are some of our newest titles for dad’s throne room.
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Weird Inventions
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Zipper Accidents
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges into Texas Expanded Edition
Uncle John’s Bathroom Puzzler Scrambled Words
For some quality father/daughter/son time, here are the newest For Kids Only! titles.
Uncle John’s InfoMania Bathroom Reader for Kids Only!
Uncle John’s Smell-O-Scopic Bathroom Reader for Kids Only!
And, don’t forget about our most recent annual edition, Uncle John’s Fully Loaded 25th Anniversary Bathroom Reader.
Want an extra Father’s Day bonus? Enter our latest giveaway on Goodreads below.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Uncle John’s Bathroom Puzzler Scrambled Words
by Bathroom Readers’ Institute
Giveaway ends May 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
May 17, 2013
Political Carnival: “Crackstarter” Raising Funds to Buy Video of Toronto Mayor Allegedly Smoking Crack
Backstory: New York-based gossip website Gawker says it was approached by someone trying to sell a video of Toronto mayor Rob Ford apparently smoking crack cocaine in a glass pipe. Gawker editor John Cook says he’s seen the video (two reporters from the Toronto Star say they have, too) – but the person who has it wants money for it. A LOT of money.
Gawker has published a photo they say is a screengrab from the video:
That’s all crazy enough on it’s own – but here’s where it goes into overdrive: Cook has started an Indiegogo fundraiser he’s titled “Rob Ford Crackstarter” (a takeoff of fundraising site KickStarter), saying:
This is a fluid situation. The people who have this video have been straight with Gawker so far, and honored every commitment they have made. We have every expectation that they will live up to their end of the bargain and, if enough money is raised, hand over the video. But buying videos of prominent political figures smoking crack inherently involves a bit of unavoidable dodginess. In the even that, for some reason, the deal goes south and we raise the money but don’t get the video, Gawker pledges to donate 100% of the proceeds to a Canadian non-profit institution that helps people suffering from drug addiction and its various consequences. We’ll figure out what that is later if it comes to it.
But that’s not going to happen! Because we’re going to raise the money and use it to buy a video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine and publish it online! Please help us get there.
How much have they raised so far (in less than one day?):
More than $36,000.
Bonus: This is going to get even nuttier as the hours and days pass!
We’ll keep you updated!
Update, hour after original: The National Post chimes in.
May 16, 2013
The World’s Smallest Movie
This tiny film doesn’t feature any big stars like Brad Pitt, or even any littler stars—because there literally wasn’t enough room for them. Instead, A Boy and His Atom stars, amazingly, just a few microscopic particles. Guinness World Records has declared the stop-motion-animated short film “the world’s smallest movie.” The 90-second film consists of a “boy” bouncing an atom-sized ball while dancing and jumping around. There’s not much of a plot but given the methods involved, it’s pretty incredible.
IBM scientists created the film with a “scanning tunneling microscope” that manipulated a few dozen carbon atoms placed atop a copper surface. First they had to chill the microscope to just above absolute zero (-450° F) because at a higher temp, the “excitable” atoms would have ignored their stage directions.
A team of four scientists worked 18-hour days for two weeks to make the pint-sized flick. It’s so tiny that it had to be magnified 100 million times in order to be visible in a standard video format like YouTube. IBM hopes to use the film to demonstrate technology that will allow scientists to manipulate matter on the atomic level and, if all goes as planned, create new forms of data storage. You can watch it here:
May 15, 2013
The Simpsons Sell Out
On May 19th, The Simpsons will conclude its 24th season with its 530th episode—an adventure set in Iceland. Since its debut in 1989, the show has amassed lots of records, including “Longest-Running American Primetime, Scripted Television Series” and “Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series.”
Needless to say, The Simpsons has also netted its creators millions, a good chunk of which has come from lucrative commercial tie-in and product endorsements. Over the years, the characters have appeared in TV ads around the world for everything from candy to cars. Here are a few examples of when the Simpsons sell out.
Mmm…Butterfinger. Since the early ‘90s, the Simpsons have appeared in more than a dozen ads for the candy bar. Here’s a five-minute “super-cut” featuring 10 of them.
Mmm…chicken. In this Canadian ad for KFC, Homer gets stuck in a bathroom window.
Mmm…Coke. In this Coca-Cola spot, Mr. Burns loses his billions, but learns a valuable lesson: who needs money when you’ve got high fructose corn syrup?
Mmm…French cars. The Simpsons gave a Parisian car dealer some headaches in this French commercial for Renault.
Mmm…credit cards. Finally, Homer learned “there are some things money can’t buy” in this ad for Mastercard.
Fan Favorite. And, here is a fan favorite from our Facebook comments (Thanks Michael D. for the link).
May 14, 2013
Garth Brooks: Country Star, Failed Filmmaker, Defendant
Name the bestselling solo male musician of all time. Elvis Presley? Bing Crosby? Elton John? Nope. It’s country superstar Garth Brooks, who has sold more than 128 million albums in the U.S., which is especially remarkable because unlike those other guys, he didn’t have a recording career that lasted decades. His first record came out in 1989 and his last one in 2001. Why’d he retire? He wanted to try new things, particularly starring in and making movies.
Brooks is one of the most popular musicians of all time, and if a new lawsuit filed by a former business partner is to be believed, one of the prickliest. Former business partner Lisa Sanderson is taking Brooks to court because his bad behavior and pattern of bridge-burning resulted in a number of movie projects that never saw the light of day, and thus prevented Sanderson from earning a great deal of money.
Here are some of the movies Sanderson alleges she and Brooks worked on that never made it to the big screen:
• Saving Private Ryan. Sanderson and Brooks formed a production company called Red Strokes, which landed a development deal with Disney. That led to Brooks being offered a role in Steven Spielberg’s World War II ensemble film, Saving Private Ryan. Brooks declined because, Sanderson alleges, he didn’t want to share the screen with people he considered lesser stars…such as Tom Hanks and Matt Damon.
• Twister. Spielberg also sent Brooks a script for Twister, which he was producing. Brooks turned that down, too, because he didn’t want to be upstaged by the computer-generated tornadoes.
• The Lamb. Sanderson’s lawsuit describes a bizarre meeting she and Brooks had with Fox executives. Brooks successfully pitched a movie called The Lamb, about a rock star who fakes his own death, which would star Brooks as his “Chris Gaines” pop star alter ego. Brooks also wanted to provide songs, which he said were very personal because he wrote them to deal with the death of his father. After the meeting, Sanderson confronted Brooks…because she knew that his father was alive and well. Brooks said he lied to make the pitch seem more emotional. Ultimately, the movie never happened because Brooks refused to split with Fox any music publishing revenues the movie would generate.
• Alice in Wonderland. Brooks was offered the chance to record a song for Tim Burton’s 2010 live-action version of Alice in Wonderland. Brooks refused to do the song, because, bizarrely, he also wanted to co-write the screenplay.
Because of these incidents, and more, Sanderson claims she and her production company lost out on a small fortune—she’s suing for $425,000 to cover breach of contract and fraud. Stay tuned!
May 12, 2013
Happy (Weird) Mother’s Day From Isabella Rossellini
Oh, goodness.
Happy Mother’s Day, all you bathroom-reading mother’s out there! Hope it’s the happiest (weirdest?) one ever!
Bonus:
• And a video of baby frogs being born from their mother’s back
May 9, 2013
Giant Duck in Hong Kong Harbor!
Though it does closely resemble our ducky mascot, we swear that we are not behind this.
For the past few weeks, a gigantic, inflatable rubber duck has sat in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour and drawn thousands of onlookers. How big is it? Pretty big—16.5 meters tall, or 54 feet of inflatable ducky goodness.
Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman designed and launched the duck as nothing more than a whimsical act of happiness and goodwill. “It makes you feel young again. It refers to your childhood when there was no stress or economic pressure,” Hofman told reporters.
Officially named Rubber Duck, Hofman came up with the goodwill duck idea in 2001, but put it into motion this year. He’s already sent the duck to Osaka, Japan; Syndey, Australia (we covered this visit earlier this year); Sao Paolo, Brazil; and Amsterdam, in his home country. It will stay in Hong Kong until June 9th, after which it will head to the U.S. But where exactly? Hofman won’t say. “It’s confidential.” All will be revealed around June 1.
So be on the look out for that giant rubber duck. 10-4, good buddy.
P.S. Our San Diego office would like to put in a formal request to bring the duck to the San Diego Harbor. Perhaps we can bring one of our duckies to the harbor to meet Rubber Duck! Pretty pleeeeaaaaassssseeeee??
