"Gene Simmons Family Jewels" cancelled. "Magical Mystery Tour" DVD/Blu Ray reissue. Pete Townshend's book signings. Mirror fasting. Walnuts boost sperm production? Stress shrinks your brain. 10 signs your guy is too needy.

GENE SIMMONS

After seven seasons and 160 episodes, A&E has canceled Gene Simmons Family Jewels, according the Vintage Vinyl Rock. The show, which has been both adored and reviled by rock fans, has shown a supposed "warts and all" look at the Kiss co-founder's long-term relationship with his girlfriend -- now wife -- former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed, their children Nick and Sophie, along with the facelifts, the alleged split between the couple due to Simmons' infidelities, and thwarted baby adoptions.

A&E issued a statement following the cancellation saying: "For seven great seasons, Gene, Shannon, Nick and Sophie have been part of the A&E family, and we could not be more proud of the unparalleled run of Gene Simmons Family Jewels. On behalf of everyone at A&E, we'd like to thank the production team at Thinkfactory Media, Gene and his amazing family for their partnership, collaboration and for opening up their lives, warts-and-all, to us throughout the years."

Gene Simmons said in his own statement: "With Kiss on tour and with my other business commitments, we have decided to draw the final curtain on our show. It has been a wonderful, life-altering experience for our family, and after seven successful seasons, we feel it's time to move on. A big thank you to A&E for allowing us to tell our story and a big thank you to our excellent producers Leslie Greif, Adam Freeman, Adam Reed, and the team at Thinkfactory Media. This is not the end of our story, it's the beginning of a new chapter. With love -- Gene, Shannon, Sophie, and Nick."

Upon its debut, Gene Simmons Family Jewels was trashed for being a staged, unfunny, and predictable rip-off of MTV's then-recent hit The Osbournes, featuring Ozzy Osbourne and his family. Simmons made no bones about being a major fan of the show: "The music world is so full of boring people, it's great to see somebody who's interesting, at the very least, whether you're a fan of Ozzy's music or not. I mean, this is a unique guy, who's obviously survived the times, and here's hoping he and his family survive more."

THE BEATLES

Although the Beatles have yet to officially announce the DVD/Blu ray reissue of their Magical Mystery Tour film, new details are leaking out daily. SuperDeluxeEdition.com reports that a release is set for October 9th, and that in addition to the 53 minute movie -- which also includes an optional director's commentary by Paul McCartney -- the package, which will sell for just over $50, also includes the separate performances of "Your Mother Should Know," "Blue Jay Way," and "The Fool On The Hill," along with the group's then contemporary promo for "Hello Goodbye," and the featurettes "Nat's Dream," "I'm Going In A Field -- Ivor Cutler," "The Making Of Magical Mystery Tour,'" "Ringo The Actor," "The Cast" and "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush -- Traffic." Strangely "I Am The Walrus" was not listed as a separate "video" along with the infamous TV movie's other songs.

Paul McCartney recalled in 1995's The Beatles Anthology, that he caught flack from the other Beatles for being the driving force in the band at the time -- especially on and off the set of Magical Mystery Tour: "I know John got a bit annoyed, sort of saying, 'Y'know, Paul's trying to be the leader of the group,' and stuff. It's possible, but I was there more than anyone. I mean, when we did Magical Mystery Tour, for instance, I ended up kinda directing it -- even though we said, y'know, the Beatles had directed it at the end. Just 'cause I was there most of the time and all the late night chats with the cameraman about what we were gonna do tomorrow would tend to be me, rather than the others."

PETE TOWNSHEND

Pete Townshend will be partaking in a handful of East Coast book signings for his upcoming memoir, Who I Am. According to the Townshend connoisseur message board "The Shout" (theshout.yuku.com), the Who guitarist's reps confirmed he will be making stops in Manhattan; Ridgewood, New Jersey; Philadelphia; and Boston to promote the autobiography, which will be published by Harper Collins on October 8th.

Pete Townshend's appearances include the following stops:
October 8 - New York, NY - New York Public Library (private event)
October 9 - New York, NY - Union Square Barnes & Noble
October 10 - Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia Free Library
October 11 - Ridgewood, NJ - Bookends
October 12 - Boston, MA - Barnes & Noble in Prudential Center

Townshend was asked if he's surprised by the fact that Who songs -- some of which are five decades old -- are constantly being requested for use in TV and films: "No, it doesn't surprise me. I . . . y'know, what I can do now with good grace is accept that it was a good idea and that it was carried out brilliantly by the people involved in it. And also responded to in a magnificent way by the people that got it, y'know, and there are people now that are surfacing who claim to have got it that are really quite surprising, like Spike Lee. Y'know, when he talked to me about Summer Of Sam, y'know, he talked a lot about, y'know, how he was grabbed by the whole idea (of the Who) when he was a, y'know, a young kid, and you don't expect that from kids that grow up in black New York. So, there are a whole number of people that have responded to the idea and have extrapolated something from it into their own world."

The Who kicks off its Quadrophenia & More Tour on November 1st in Sunrise, Florida at BankAtlantic Center.

TREND ALERT: 'MIRROR FASTING'

 Women who are sick of the pressure to constantly look good are "mirror fasting." The practice is exactly what it sounds like -- not looking at your reflection for anything from a few days to a year. Participants avoid reflections in shop windows, wing mirrors and even mobile phones - and those who try it report feeling liberated. The trend is believed to have started when New York beauty writer Autumn Whitefield Madrano, 36, tried it for a month last year and wrote about her experience. She said she realized she had developed a 'mirror face', sucking in her cheeks and posing when she looked at herself, and added: 'It made me feel really vain. I wanted to see how much my mood was affected by the way I perceived my looks.' Did it work? Well, she found: "I was surprised at how quickly I stopped worrying about how I looked, and if I wasn't thinking about it." (Daily Mail)

WALNUTS BOOST SPERM PRODUCTION?

Eating 2.6 ounces of walnuts a day -- about two handfuls of walnuts -- may boost sperm quality in men. During a 12-week study, one group added 75 grams, or 2.6 ounces of whole-shelled walnuts to their diet daily. The other group continued their usual diet but avoided eating tree nuts. Both groups ate a typical Western-style diet. "We found a significant improvement in sperm parameters in the group that consumed the walnuts," said lead author Wendie Robbins said in a statement. "The men who ate no tree nuts saw no change." She added, "Women are not the only ones who should be paying attention to what they eat when they are trying to get pregnant," she added. "This study shows that what men eat is important too." (UPI)

STRESS SHRINKS YOUR BRAIN

 Stress literally shrinks your brain. Yale researchers identified a mechanism that can cause a loss of brain volume as a result of major depression or chronic stress. The research indicates that long-term stress provokes a loss of brain synapses, and a single transcription factor "switch," called GATA1, is over-produced in the brains of people who experience this synapse loss. They noted that genetic variation in GATA1 may be able to indicate people who are specifically at risk for depression (or sensitive to chronic stress). (AskMen.com)

10 SIGNS YOUR GUY IS TOO NEEDY (TheStir.com)

1) You get messages full of sweet nothings from him . . . all day long.

2) The relationship is all on his terms. It's his way or the highway. Except, if you choose the highway, he'll be dogging after you.

3) He asks you constantly for reassurance that you love him. There's an amount of this expected in a relationship, but when you're out with your friends, you don't need 288 texts asking if you love him in a variety of different ways.

4) He wants you to block all your exes from Facebook -- just because.

5) He insists that he go through your phone and question every single text to make sure they're "appropriate."

6) He insists that you give him ALL your email account information so that he can check out what you've been doing.

7) As time goes on, you realize that you're slowly being isolated from your friends. Any time you bring up going out with the girls, he's all, "Baby, wouldn't you rather stay home with me?"

8) You realize HE has no friends. Instead, he spends his every waking moment in contact with you.

9) When he tags along on girls' night, he rakes your friends over the coals, interrogating them about exes, what you say about him when he's not around, what he can do to make you love him more -- and this is only after you've been dating for two weeks.

10) He never stops talking about the future with you. He's going to marry you. He loves you. He wants to have babies with you. And this is all said by Date #2.

Thanks for listening to The Eagle while you work. Keep it fabulous, Houston!

xoxo,

Jennifer Tyler

Fabulous Mid-Day Diva