TGIF-9/25/08

Thanks so much for hanging out with Carolina Country Cruizin with Matt and Dee this morning and make sure to head back here on Monday with more chances for you to win and we always promise lots of fun! Keep it rolling on Wheelz 100.5!

A Hamilton, Ohio, mother says her 13-year-old son is being discriminated against by school officials who have banned him from wearing makeup to school. Mindy Ball said her son, Matt Allsup, was confronted by administrators at Garfield Middle School after he showed up for classes wearing black eye makeup, lipstick and fingernail polish. “They’re gender stereotyping. He’s being sexually discriminated against. Nowhere in the rules does it say that males can’t wear makeup” Ball said. The principal told Ball that Matt’s black makeup was “distracting” to the other students. Ball plans to take her son’s case to court.

Country and Southern rock collide at the "CMT Crossroads."  The next episode, airing Saturday, features Trace Adkins and the group .38 Special.  The pre-taped show will feature Adkins and the band trading licks on his tunes "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," "Chrome," and the tender ballad "You're Gonna Miss This."  The guys also get down on .38 Special's "Rockin' Into the Night," "Caught Up In You," and "Hold On Loosely."  Adkins tells CMT that he and his band are big .38 Special fans and were, quote, "excited like little kids" at the prospect of jamming with the band.  Adkins adds that he can't think of a time when he's had more fun since he's been in the music business. .38 Special lead singer Donnie Van Zant has dabbled in country. He and his brother, Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnnie Van Zant, make up the country-rock duo Van Zant.

Brad Paisley has gotten a bunch of his guitar-playing friends to help him with his new single, “Cluster Pluck.” The tune features James B urton, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, John Jorgenson, Steve Wariner, session musician Brent Mason and Redd Volkaert from Merle Haggard’s band The Strangers. “Cluster Pluck” is available now on iTunes. Paisley’s new album, “Play,” comes out November 4th.

Lady Antebellum will be performing “Lookin’ For A Good Time” from their No. 1 self-titled debut album on the “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” tonight. The trio will hit the road with Jason Aldean for “CMT On Tour ‘08,” kicking off October 8th at Western Carolina University and continuing through November 22nd with stops scheduled in 20 cities across the country.

Jason Michael Carroll really does live by the lyrics of his current hit, "I Can Sleep When I'm Dead." When he isn't opening for Martina McBride on the Wake Up Laughing Tour, he's flying home to North Carolina to be with his four children. For the country newcomer, he wants to make the most of the opportunity he's been given. He tells Fredericksburg, Virginia's Free Lance-Star, "It's really how bad do you want it, and what do you want. If you're going to make a comment like 'I want it all,' then be prepared to take it all."

Phil Vassar may be the proudest dad in country music as he watches his daughters discover their own musical talent. He tells Richmond-dot-com, "Both of them are freaky good. My five-year-old is taking keyboard lessons and my 10-year-old sings and dances. I want them to have the opportunity to do what they want to do. That's what a father wants for his daughters." The country star also doesn't want to rush the process. "At some point they're going to grow up. You just want them to stay as innocent and cute as they can." Right now the girls are in school and Phil is on the road with stops in Lakeville, Pennsylvania tomorrow night and Durham, Connecticut Sunday.

Early Shoppers

More than one in three holiday shoppers – or 62.3 million adult consumers – report they begin holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, according to new data from Mediamark Research & Intelligence. Just under 36% of holiday shoppers say they begin shopping between Thanksgiving and December 15^th and close to 26% start their shopping between December 16th and 23rd. Approximately 2% of holiday shoppers don’t begin their holiday shopping until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Hot Dogs Cause Bomb Scare

The Phillie Phanatic inadvertently sparked a bomb scare at the Philadelphia Phillies’ ballpark Wednesday night. Hours before the Phillies-Atlanta Braves’ game, a film crew shot a commercial of the mascot shooting heavily wrapped hot dogs from a launcher. But someone left three of the duct taped hot dogs outside the ballpark, sparking security fears. Stadium employees were evacuated and the bomb squad was called in. Only after the packages were blown up did authorities realize what it really was. After the detonation, the game went on as scheduled.

Fake Popups Risky For Computer Users

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that most Internet users cannot distinguish between genuine popup warning messages and fake ones. The study shows the inability to distinguish between fake and real popup messages continues to exist, even after repeated warnings. The researchers examined the responses of undergraduate students to real and fake warning messages while they conducted searches on a computer connected to the Internet. The real warning messages simulated local Windows operating system warnings, while the fake messages were popup messages emanating from an exterior source via the Internet. Participants were fooled by the fake messages 63% of the time, hitting the “OK” button in the message box despite being told some of what they would be seeing would be false.

Live Space Talk Now Available 24/7

Conversations between astronauts aboard the International Space Station and flight controllers on the ground now are available for the public to hear live, 24 hours a day, seven days a week on NASA’s Web site, www.nasa.gov The streaming audio of space-to-ground communications includes NASA commentary during specific station mission events and regularly scheduled space station commentary on NASA Television Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. [CST]. NASA already provides this space-to-ground communication with commentary during space shuttle missions.

Kirk Cameron has an interesting take on romantic scenes in movies. He won’t kiss anyone but his wife. For his new role in the film “Fireproof,” Cameron’s actual wife served as a stand-in for his onscreen wife for kissing scenes. “I have a commitment not to kiss any other woman,” the former child star of “Growing Pains” said. The film makers dressed his wife, actress Chelsea Noble, like the movie’s female lead and shot the scenes in silhouette.

Super Bowl XLIII Commercial Contest

The Doritos brand is once again giving complete control of its Super Bowl ad air time to its fans. But this time, Doritos is raising the stakes. In addition to airing one fan’s self-made Doritos ad to a captive audience of millions, Doritos will give the talented winner $1 million if their ad takes down “the big guys” and becomes the first-ever consumer-created commercial to claim the No. 1 ranking in USA Today’s annual Ad Meter. Five finalists will be announced in January. Then fans will vote for their favorite ad and determine the winning Doritos spot to air during the Super Bowl XLIII broadcast on

February 1st on NBC. Each of the five finalists will win $25,000 and a trip to Tampa Bay, Florida, to attend Super Bowl XLIII in a private luxury suite at the game. Get all the details at www.snackstrongproductions.com

Movies this weekend

“Choke” (Wide) (R)

Stars Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly MacDonald and Joel Grey.

“Eagle Eye” (Wide) (PG-13)

Stars Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson and Billy Bob Thornton.

“Miracle at St. Anna” (Wide) (R)

Stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy and Omar Benson Miller.

“Nights in Rodanthe” (Wide) (PG-13)

Stars Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Christopher Meloni and Mae Whitman.

“How do I get my computer’s coffee-cup holder to come out again?” That may sound like a baffling request, but for seasoned help desk professionals, it’s not out of the ordinary. In a new survey by Robert Half Technology, CIOs (Chief Information Officers) identified the most unusual requests they or their support staff have fielded. Responses included:

- “Why isn’t my wireless mouse connected to the computer?”

- “My laptop was run over by a truck. What should I do?”

- “Can you rearrange the keyboard alphabetically?”

- “My computer is telling me to press any key to continue. Where is the ‘any’ key?”

- “Can you reset the Internet for me?”

- “There are animal crackers in my CD-ROM drive.”

- “Can you build me a robot?”

- “Can you get the mice out of the ceiling?”

- “A server went down, and I found a lizard had crawled into it and died.”

- “A skunk ate my cable.”

- “How can I block e-mail from my manager?”

- “Can I open the bank safe using my computer?”

- “Can you install cable TV on my PC?”

- “Can you order joysticks so that we can play video games?”

- “I’d like to stop receiving e-mail on Fridays.”

- “Can you come and install my car stereo?”

- “Where can I locate dry ice?”

- “Can you fix my typewriter?”

- “How long does it take to bake a potato in a microwave?”

- “My daughter is locked in the bathroom, can you pick the lock?”

- “Can you tell me the weather forecast for next year?”

- “The elevator is broken.”

- “How do I wire a robotic turkey?”

- “Where can I get software to track UFOs?”

- “Can you repair my motorbike?”

Dierks Bentley and his wife Cassidy are not likely to follow the Hollywood trend of tagging their baby-to-be with an obscure name. Dierks tells us, "I named my dog Jake and I named the other dog George. I'll pretty much more just pick a regular dude name. If it's a boy! If it's a girl, I don't know." The couple's friends threw a baby celebration "because dudes don't go to showers" and Dierks found out there was more he didn't know. He says, "My stage manager brought a big box full of random stuff I would never even think of like some device you use to get snot out of the baby's nose. We don't know what we're getting into is basically what I'm trying to say."

Faith Hill has shot a live performance of each song on her upcoming Christmas album Joy to the World. The clips will air on the P-B-S series Soundstage starting Thanksgiving week. Joined by a 31-piece orchestra and a nine-voice choir, Faith performs her version of holiday classics as well as the C-D's first single, "A Baby Changes Everything." The special will air repeatedly throughout December.

Blake Shelton premiered the video for his single "She Wouldn't Be Gone" for 24 hours on Yahoo Music this week.

James Otto has been added to the line-up for the American Freedom Festival October 25th in Fairfax, Virginia. Alan Jackson and Trace Adkins have previously been announced as performers.

Tracy Lawrence and Phil Stacey have been added to the list of performers at this year's Inspirational Country Music Awards, October 16th in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Collin Raye hosts the event

Aaaargh -- you can't keep a good pirate down. Johnny Depp has signed up for another trip as "Captain Jack Sparrow" in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film. Before he ships out, however, he'll be playing another pair of iconic figures -- "Tonto," the faithful Indian sidekick, in a new Lone Ranger movie, and the "Mad Hatter" in Tim Burton's 3-D take on Alice in Wonderland.

Have a wonderful weekend and make sure to join us on Monday morning for Carolina Country Cruizin with Matt and Dee to get your week started right and keep it rolling with Wheelz 100.5!

*Information from Premiere, Jones and Metro Networks*