Come on: I get it that, right about now, Ebony is probably starving for any kind of contact with Obama, or for any reason to put him on the cover, but seriously….
Entries Tagged 'Pop Culture' ↓
Give Me a Break.
July 15th, 2008 — Magazines, Media, Politics, Pop Culture, Race
The Cat’s in the Bag.
July 8th, 2008 — Comics, Entertainment, Humor, Pop Culture, Satire
As written, the comic strip Garfield—cartoonist Jim Davis’ look at the travails of an eponymous cat and its owner—is kind of like the funny pages equivalent of tourists: In the background, not bothering anybody, always there, and quietly looked down upon by people who think they’re much smarter.
So, perhaps it’s appropriate that it took a foreigner, Dan Walsh—and a Dubliner yet!—to turn Garfield from wallpaper into something truly hip: a darkly ironic reflection on “schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life.” Walsh did it, not by rewriting dialogue but, via one genius move: He completely stripped the cat and his unfunny thought balloons out of every panel.
Obama: “Yes We Can…Save Big!”
July 8th, 2008 — Advertising, Humor, Politics, Pop Culture
Here you go, just in case you, like I, missed that ridiculous Fake Obama Kia commercial, as it was originally seen on The Daily Show. I guess this also implies that an Obama win “promises” four years of work to Black actors with floppy ears.
Celebrating the Most Unfortunate Product Name Selection in History.
July 1st, 2008 — Advertising, Controversy, Medicine, Pop Culture, TV
Bet she kept this clip off of her reel: Ayds diet candy commercial
What do you do when the name of your number one product, under which you’ve been selling your goods for decades, becomes a homonym for a deadly scourge?
That’s the foul question the makers of Ayds, an appetite suppressant, found themselves having to address 20 years ago. By that point, it had become clear that acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, was not going to be a flash in the pan—a temporary blip that the company could just ride out—but would be, in fact, the disease of the century, if not the millennium.
Someone, Please: What in the World Was Charlize Theron Thinking?
June 24th, 2008 — Entertainment, Fashion, Humor, Pop Culture
I dig anything that shoots holes in celebrities and the myth that they’re smarter, better, prettier, or, in any way, superior to regular people. So, I gets down for TMZ on the daily; love the “celebrities without make-up” subgenre; but Go Fug Yourself is the celeb site that I most want, somehow, to get on TV and satellite.
George Carlin, 1937-2008
June 23rd, 2008 — Controversy, Entertainment, Humor, Obituary, Pop Culture, Radio
To a great extent, George Carlin is being remembered today for his “Filthy Words” routine, from his album, Occupation: Foole. In 1973, my radio station, WBAI-NY / 99.5 FM, played the bit over the air, resulting in a complaint and, ultimately, in a landmark Supreme Court ruling on free speech and the First Amendment. (“Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” on the 1972 album, Class Clown, is a similar piece. Its live recitation on a Milwaukee stage got the comic arrested in that year.)
To me, however, Carlin is possibly most significant in that he was the only white comedian I ever heard use the word nigger in a joke who actually made me really, deeply laugh. (The piece appears in his 1990 “Euphemisms” sketch.)
This is less a testament to his hipness or coolness—he had none, from my perspective—or any acceptance I reserve for white people using that word. All I reserve for any white person, without exception—including Carlin—is the suspicion of racism.
Maximizing the Synthetic Applications of Hip-Hop Culture
June 20th, 2008 — Black Music, Culture, Education, Entertainment, Hip-Hop, NONFICTION, Pop Culture
Thinking broadly: George Washington Carver, 1906
What are the possible uses of hip-hop, all of them?
How many kinds of tasks can it do? It what kinds of ways might it be used, in order to help people better understand themselves and/or each other?
This question is, to me, the most important, yet least-addressed, as it pertains to hip-hop and its future. It’s also the one on which I’m focusing, assisted by a talented rapper and educator, during my WBAI-NY / 99.5 FM radio show, NONFICTION, this afternoon, Friday, June 20, 2 pm ET.
Cyd Charisse, 1922-2008
June 18th, 2008 — Dance, Entertainment, Film, Obituary, Pop Culture
In the 1953 Vincente Minnelli musical, The Band Wagon, there’s a fantastic sequence called “The Girl Hunt,” in which dance great Fred Astaire, as gumshoe Rod Riley, searches for a mysterious ingenue. Numerous close calls and clues lead him to a gangster nightspot, Dem Bones Cafe, where upon entering, he suddenly catches sight of a woman, her hair coal-black, leaning ravenously against the bar in a dark green full-length coat.
For a second, there is no movement in the shot whatsoever. Watching it on video, one initially has the confusing impression that they’re looking at a still frame, until they notice the woman’s slow, deep breathing.
Say Goodbye to the Bad Guy:
The Wanted Red Trailer
June 17th, 2008 — Advertising, Entertainment, Film, Media, Pop Culture
Say hello to my little friend: James McAvoy in Wanted
The Angelina Jolie-starring, Timur Bekmambetov-directed assassin thriller, Wanted (“Curve the bullet!”), has a restricted, or “red,” trailer, available for iTunes download and viewing in all three standard sizes and all three HD sizes.
More Proof That Cloning Is Wrong
June 10th, 2008 — Animation, Design, Entertainment, Pop Culture, Science-Fiction, TV
This looks very familiar: C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) in The Clone Wars
Please: I want someone to tell me, and I want you to be honest:
Am I a bad person because, after looking at the trailer for Lucasfilm Animation’s upcoming CGI series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I feel almost nothing, except, perhaps, the loss of animation director Genndy Tartakovsky?
Tartakovsky (b. 1970) helmed the similarly-titled, Emmy Award-winning Star Wars: Clone Wars. The microseries aired on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2005, much as the new Star Wars: The Clone Wars will run there this fall. (Tartakovsky first became known for the long-running Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Laboratory on that animation channel.)
I saw Clone Wars when it was released on DVD in 2005.
I’m still reeling from it.
