Pop Culture Junk Mail

Downton, things will be great when we're Downton...

2012-01-17T13:26:00.000-08:00

A writer at Newsweek is ALL TICKED OFF that Americans DARE to enjoy "Downton Abbey." Dude, do you even KNOW what's on other channels? Would you prefer we melt our brains with more Kardashian shows?

Staff of life

2012-01-17T13:23:00.000-08:00

Rare snow day here in Seattle, so I finally got out my Sassafras clay bread pan (I have the baguette-shaped one) and am baking some bread. Using the New York Times' no-knead recipe, with some extras added.

Nagging Disney mysteries

2012-01-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

YES! I always wondered about little Chip the teacup...I mean, Mrs. Potts seems kind of old to be his mom and all, and does he have a dad or--?

The bit about Ariel having to turn cannibal and eat her former subjects if she becomes a queen on land is both funny and horrifying.

Every single one of us, the "Devil Inside"

2012-01-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

This is a hilarious tag-team review of "The Devil Inside," which critics and audiences seem to roundly agree is horrible, yet it only cost $1 million to make, and will likely beat pricey "Mission: Impossible" at this weekend's box office.
Here's a spoiler for the movie's stupid non-ending.

Also, it looks like the L.A. premiere had a special guest in the audience...

Dumb names for nail polish

2012-01-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

UPDATED LINK! I really want this blog to start updating again.

My favorite nail polish currently is OPI Hearts and Tarts, a lovely light pink that works for French manicures or simple fresh coverage.

But that doesn't mean I don't secretly long to have a fulltime job making up random names for nail polish or paint colors.

Here's a great quote, from an entry about a polish color named "Cool As."

"Cool As? Cool As What? I don't know if I can handle the suspense! A refreshing mountain spring? The von Trapp child Maria forgot about and left in the Alps? That gum I keep seeing commercials for where everything suddenly becomes an ice cavern and for some reason you can then talk to women with ease? Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a thermometer!"
I also like this comment, on a color called "Princesses Rule!": "I'm pretty sure that, by definition, they don't."

Losing a brother

2012-01-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

Tim Brown is a sportswriter, but this article has nothing to do with sports. It's about the real headlines in people's lives. He lost a brother just before Christmas in a car accident, and he's trying to come to grips with his new normal. Worth a read.

New 'Wuthering Heights' movie on the way

2012-01-03T20:20:00.001-08:00

The trailer is awful--all silent and moody--but the interesting thing is Heathcliff is played by a black actor.

What we wanted for Christmas in 1975

2011-12-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

What we wanted for Christmas in 1975.

Although I don't think anyone really wanted Toughskins, that trio of plaids is hilarious.

The craze for ventriloquist dolls seemed to have died out completely. BUT LOOK! Hugo, Man of a Thousand Faces, perhaps the most popular toy in our entire book.

And really, the rest is pure awesome. CB radios! Creepy headphones that look like giant ears! Evel Knievel Stunt Kit! An Easy Bake Oven that is a Pizza Hut Pizza Oven! Guns! Corduroy!

Did you have any of these treasures?

And remember, if you're on Facebook, like us there for even more retro fun.

The Lives They Lived

2011-12-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

I would read a million of these everyday people remembrances if the NY Times (or anyone) would write them. (Of course they have obituaries, but these put them in regular feature-story form.)

I'm just so much more interested in what everyday people did in their lives for the most part than the uber-rich and famous. The WW II artilleryman who survived by doing the unsafe thing, the mother whose children had to decide what to do with a six-foot modeling portrait of her in a bridal gown, the man who fought back against the violent all-night pubs of his town. Fascinating.

When writers collide

2011-12-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

For a while, I was all but obsessed with Melanie Thernstrom's "The Dead Girl," the book she wrote about the murder of her high school best friend, Bibi Lee.

She also wrote "Halfway Heaven," about a murder at Harvard where a student from Africa murdered her roommate, from Vietnam, because she felt her moving away from her and desperately wanted a friend.

But I was floored to come across Thernstrom's name in this Beth Karas story, about plaigiarist Steven Glass, and to find her not only defending him, but having chosen him as godfather to her children. Reading it does give you a picture of Glass that you certainly don't get from the Hayden Christiansen portrayal in "Shattered Glass." His parents sound cold and horrible, though they do not speak to defend themselves in the article, so who knows?

New trial for Michael Peterson

2011-12-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

People who know me know I was practically obsessed with the Michael Peterson murder trial for a while. And holy cow -- he's now getting a new trial!
(Don't know what it is? Pick up one of these books, "Written in Blood" or "A Perfect Husband," or this fascinating documentary, which I really can't recommend highly enough.)

He's an author and very smart guy with a weird situation. He ended up taking in two girls, Margaret and Martha, when their mother died at the foot of a staircase years ago in German military housing. Then when he moved back to the States, his second wife, Kathleen, died in another staircase fall, and the amount of blood everywhere seemed to indicate she had been beaten.

And, of course, there were secrets. They lived in a mansion, but he didn't have any money -- his wife had a good but stressful job, however. And he was trolling gay military-themed escort sites -- one of the weirdest parts of the trial was when one of those hunks he contacted, who never quite got to meet him, testified about their emails. One belief was that Kathleen found the emails and confronted him, and then he killed her. And there are plenty of other oddities -- the similar death of Margaret and Martha's mother, his loopy first wife, his grown sons, one of whom planted a bomb at Duke, his war with the Durham N.C. authorities via his newspaper column, the fact that the prosecution tried to say a fireplace poker was the murder weapon and the defense produced an untouched, unbloodied poker near the end of the trial.

A French film crew covered the trial for a multi-part documentary called "The Staircase" which is unquestionably sympathetic to Peterson and they had unprecedented access. It's really fascinating if voyeuristic to watch him making dinner with his family in his home just days before the jury comes back, not knowing if he'll go to jail or not, and to watch the faces of his daughters (the birth daughters of the first woman to die on a staircase) as they cry when he's found guilty. (They don't believe he killed either of the women.) Kathleen, also had a daughter, and she does believe Peterson killed her mom, so the family ended up permanently split.

I'm wondering now if the French film crew, led by Jean-Xavier Lestrade, will come back for another go and a second documentary. Things are about to get interesting.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

2011-12-07T16:05:00.001-08:00

I once interviewed for (and didn't get) a job at the Utne Reader, which was then located right above the Loring Cafe on the edge of downtown Minneapolis.

I can believe that the staff refused to move to Topeka.

We are journalists

2011-12-06T21:38:00.001-08:00

I love "We Are Journalists," the site where journalists explain why we do what we do.

This one is a favorite: "I lived in 13 cities between the age of 18 and 40. In journalism, in order to move up you’ve got to move. I’ve covered a Super Bowl, an execution and the Indian tsunami. I’ve asked priests if they molested children. Sometimes, they confessed. I love being a reporter. It is who I am. You have great power and great responsibility. Use it for good. You have access to everyone. You ask the questions no one else will. This skill will not help your dating life. Now I teach journalism. I miss the newsroom every day. I miss the energy, the deadlines, the crazy people. I miss the fight. I tell my students to ride the ride as long as they can. They will never regret it.'

Overachievements in marriage

2011-12-04T22:01:00.001-08:00

This headline, "The 6 Greatest Overachievements in the History of Marriage," is kind of confusing, but it's about people who married way above them and then saw it not work out. Which sounds all class-snobbery, but when you read it, you don't feel that way. My favorite is the first one, which tells about how Princess Margaret got totally cheated on by Antony Armstrong Jones. And I'm a royal watcher, but I just had no idea what was going on there. He was conceiving children with other women? Having flings with men too? And had an enormous...um, just read the article.

Cracked.com is an amazingly good humor site, which is funny because I always thought of their now-gone print magazine as the poor man's MAD.

Revolting snacks of America

2011-12-04T21:54:00.001-08:00

Christmas is revolting, and so are the elves!

Love the Revolting Snacks of America Tumblr. (Is it a Tumblr? A blog? A Tumblr blog? Anyway, it's one of my fellow Damn Hell Ass Kings, and deservedly so.)

Kelly has been known to eat those PB&J crackers, by the way.

What I'm reading

2011-12-04T21:42:00.001-08:00

I'm reading a little bit of everything these days.

Dan turned me on to Michael Crichton's "Micro," which is about an evil company that can shrink people, and very reminiscent of a more violent "Dr. Shrinker." It was written from notes found in Crichton's archives after he died, and it's not quite like one of his books, and as such, it feels off somehow, but it's not bad.

I finally went back and read books 2 and 3 of "The Hunger Games" series, "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay." Was not crazy about the first "Hunger Games" book but kind of made myself read the second one and then couldn't wait for the third. Nice thing about ebooks, you can just snatch it up right when you get done with the preceding book, no matter what time of night it is or where you are.

Why Is Mom Calling?

2011-12-04T00:30:00.001-08:00

I admit, I laughed out loud at "Thinking This Might Finally Be It For The Dog."

"They blew his brains out all over the Pacific"

2011-12-04T00:19:00.001-08:00

The real story behind the encounter that inspired the "Seinfeld" episode where George and Jerry meet Elaine's gruff writer dad, who was based on "Revolutionary Road" author Richard Yates.

Excerpt: "Richard Yates, alerted by Monica, ended up watching the "Seinfeld" episode with a few graduate students at the University of Alabama, where he had taken a job. He was 65 but seemed much older. He would be dead within two years. At the end of the show, Yates asked the others, "What’d you think?" One said, "Well, it was kind of funny, Dick." "I’d like to kill that son of a bitch!" Yates roared and left the room."

Also read the part about how scary the actor who played Yates was. He stole a butcher knife from the set!

Eyeball cookies

2011-12-03T23:58:00.001-08:00

Oh, man, bookmarking these eyeball cookies for next Halloween. I love the bigger ones best. (Via Not Martha.)

Well, was she right?

2011-11-11T12:26:00.001-08:00

This is kind of a funny headline: "TODAY's Gael Fashingbauer Cooper convinced single tweet means Oscars are silly for Billy."

It's not like I am the sole person convinced of that, considering it's true.

Real dolls

2011-11-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

I am no doll snob -- I had Cher, the Bionic Woman, and Charlie's Angels dolls when I was a kid.

But I agree with Us Weekly -- there's something a bit off about these Kate and Pippa Middleton dolls.

Life and death in Formula 1

2011-11-08T22:37:00.000-08:00

My husband Rob is a Formula 1 junkie, and I bet he'd heartily enjoy this book: The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit

Which reminds me: If you haven't seen the movie "Senna," rent or borrow or buy it, even if you know nothing about Formula 1. It's crazy good.

Pumpkin marshmallows

2011-11-05T23:55:00.000-07:00

In college, we took a journalism class called Persuasion in Writing, and as part of it had to make up a product and create ads for it. I was stumped for a product, and finally came up with flavored marshmallows, which I called Kissmallows. (My slogans were " a kiss...of cinnamon" or whatever the flavor was.)

And if I had seen these pumpkin marshmallows this Halloween, I not only would have bought them, but I'd have felt a little prouder about what I at the time thought was a stupid and desperate project idea.

Sugar Chex?

2011-11-05T23:52:00.000-07:00

I'm familiar with Rice Chex and Corn Chex and all that, but SUGAR Chex? With Casper the Friendly Ghost nonetheless.

Di and Charles, the early days

2011-11-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

Never before seen photos of Diana and Charles on their 1981 honeymoon aboard the royal yacht Brittania. How little they knew, how much lay ahead.

Left at the altar

2011-11-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

Did you know there were real women believed to have inspired Dickens' stranded-at-the-altar Miss Havisham?

From Wikipedia: "Eliza Emily Donnithorne (1827–1886) of Camperdown, Sydney, was jilted by her groom -- who had the surname "Cuthbertson" -- on her wedding day in 1846 and spent the rest of her life in a darkened house, her rotting wedding cake left as it was on the table, and with her front door kept permanently ajar in case her groom ever returned (although he died in 1852). She was widely considered at the time to be Dickens' model for Miss Havisham, although this cannot be proven.^[1]^[2] Although Charles Dickens had a deep-seated interest in Australia, saw it as a place of opportunity and encouraged two of his sons to emigrate there, the writer never visited it himself, but it features in detail in many of his works, notably Great Expectations itself. He obtained his information on colonial life in New South Wales from two Sydney researchers. He also had numerous friends and acquaintances who settled in Australia who sent him letters detailing curious aspects of life in the colonies, knowing he could use it as source material for future novels. They could easily have conveyed the Donnithorne story to him. Australia features prominently in Great Expectations, and New South Wales is where Pip’s benefactor Abel Magwich made his fortune."

Lil Billy Keane makes good

2011-11-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I had no idea that Bil Keane's son, Glen, who inspired Billy in the strip, went on to become a famed animator, and until health issues intervened, was the director of "Tangled," one of Kelly's favorite movies. He also designed and animated Ariel in "The Little Mermaid," another of her favorites.

Sadly, Keane's mom, Thelma, who inspired the mom in the strip, died of Alzheimer's in 2008. She was an Australian who met her husband when they did war work there during WW II, and was so recognizable as Thel that people would stop her in the supermarket and ask her if she was the mom in the strip.

Green tea and chestnut Oreos

2011-11-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

Not only does Japan has wacky Dorito flavors, but they now have green tea Oreos and chestnut-flavored Oreo candy bars. I bow to your flavor insanity, Land of the Rising Sun.

Japanese Doritos

2011-11-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

So apparently in Japan, they have a series of Doritos flavors meant to go with wine. Because that's the kind of snack you want with wine.

The flavors include Tandoori Chicken and Lemon and Cheese Fondue and Garlic Toast.

So awesome. Reminds me of the time we were starving in a London pub and we asked them what flavor crisps (potato chips, to us) they had. They listed off some exotic flavors and one of them was "Doritos." To which we howled and informed the befuddled Brits that "Doritos is not a flavor."

Harold and Kumar are smokin' again

2011-11-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Here's my review of "A Harold & Kumar Very 3D Christmas." I went with Kim D., and we pretty much laughed the whole time.

One of my favorite lines: Someone wants Kumar to go somewhere with him, but his response is "No can do, I've got to stay here and smoke this weed or else I won't get high."

He also calls a teenager "Generation Z."

GONE

2011-11-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Aeryn Gillern is an American who was working in Vienna when one day in 2007, he just vanished. His frantic mother, once a NY police officer, did everything to try and find him, and the movie "GONE" chronicles her journey. I definitely want to see it. It airs on Discovery ID on Nov. 12 at 9 p.m.

Laugh of the day

2011-11-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

I love reading Drew Magary's Funbag on Deadspin every Tuesday. He answers random reader mail and just generally writes with wit and style and a lovely self-deprecating humor. (Read his book, "The Postmortal.")

But in today's column, the best line came from a reader: "Who do you think is the last President of the United States to actually kill a person with his own hands - and not just order some random individual in a country ordered to be bombed? Who am I kidding? It was totally Nixon."

HA!

Chew on this

2011-10-30T23:28:00.001-07:00

If all 32 NFL teams were Halloween candy, Vikes would be... Bazooka gum?

The Seahawks comparison is actually funnier. And true.

Goodbye, Miss Barbara

2011-10-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

I've always been fascinated with Bob Greene's memories of growing up in the 1950s in all-white, clean-cut Bexley, Ohio. His "Be True To Your School" used his diary of 1964, which covered part of his junior and part of his senior year, and gave those of us who never lived in that era a glimpse at what high-school days were like then, at least in a very comfortable, well-off town in the middle of the nation.

He often, in columns and books, mentions Miss Barbara, his kindergarten teacher. She apparently taught every kid in town and never forgot a name or a face. Even after retiring, she was in the lives of schoolchildren as a crossing guard. When Bob's friend Jack, he of ABCDJ fame, died, she was in the church at the funeral, and reached out and touched Bob's hand.

She died recently, and of course he memorialized her with a touching column.

...and everyone hates the French

2011-10-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Stereotypes the world over, nicely mapped for your pleasure. (Via Ask Metafilter)

Generation X has to be up really early tomorrow morning

2011-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

Everyone's linking to this Gen X had it worse than Gen Y essay, and for good reason. It's sharply written and awesome.

"Generation X is used to being ignored, stuffed between two much larger, much more vocal, demographics. But whatever! Generation X is self-sufficient. It was a latchkey child. Its parents were too busy fulfilling their own personal ambitions to notice any of its trophies—which were admittedly few and far between because they were only awarded for victories, not participation."

I'm your huckleberry

2011-10-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

Saw a bumper sticker from a Texas gun shop with the saying "I'm your huckleberry," from "Tombstone" of course.

That started me wondering if that saying was really an old West version of "I'm the droid you're looking for" or if it was just made up for the movie. Seems that it really does date back to at least the 1930s if not earlier.

Fascinating!

Forget you, and forget her too

2011-10-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

Best radio edits of songs. "Gold Digger" and "F You" are on there, of course. You don't want to know how long it took me to figure out the actual "Gold Digger lyric."

Meet me at Toast Box

2011-10-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

A rundown of interesting international fast-food places. I'm all about Singapore's Toast Box, with its signature dish described as crispy grilled kaya (coconut jam) toast with slices of butter, a soft-boiled egg and a mug of kopi (coffee).

Completely random reading

2011-09-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

Here's the pile of books I've been reading lately, though with a three-year-old, sometimes it's weeks before I get back to one of them. Warning: They're incredibly random!

--"The Wind Done Gone": This "Gone With the Wind" parody was a hot talker when it came out in 2001. It's essentially a tale of life on Tara from the point of view of a slave who was the child of Gerald O'Hara and Mammy, who later vies with Scarlett for Rhett Butler's love. For legal reasons, they couldn't use all the names (Scarlett is annoyingly dubbed "Other"). The book started out pretty good but I'm not exactly unable to put it down, so take that for what you will.

--"The Last of the Just": I'm pretty sure we read this either in high school (I went to a Catholic all-girls school) or college religion/theology classes. It concerns the ancient Jewish legend that there are only 36 just men in the world, and crosses many generations in one story where one of those men is always present. That sounds dry, but read this excerpt from one of the reviews: "This was assigned reading for a class on the Holocaust that I took as an elective in college many moons ago. Once I got around to reading it (near the end of the semester, of course), I was completely unable to put it down. I started it on Good Friday and read straight through the weekend. It shattered me. I was flat out weeping as I read that final page late on Easter Sunday (which, as a non-Jew, spun me around into a whole different perspective). I've been teary-eyed over a good book or two, but I had never read (nor have I since) any book that moved or affected me so profoundly."

--"All-American Murder": Yes, I am still a true-crime buff. This is about the murder of Yeardley Love, a college lacrosse player, apparently by her troubled boyfriend, also a lacrosse player. I find the case fascinating but this book didn't really get into it. It seems that her family just would not talk to anyone (who can blame them?) and since the case isn't over (the suspect is in jail, but the trial hasn't happened yet), it just kind of trails off. People! Do not crank out insta-books! Wait until the trial has a resolution, you'll always get a better book out of it.

--"The Postmortal": Drew Magary is a hilarious writer for Deadspin. (He also lived in Minnesota for a while and remains a Vikings fan, so I may be biased.) His novel is about a future in which the cure for aging is discovered. You get a shot and are frozen at a certain age. You can still die -- you can be shot, or get cancer, or die in any of zillions of ways -- but not from traditional old age. Problems, of course, emerge -- from the government at first denying the cure to a woman giving it to her baby so she'll never grow up (this gives me chills to think about) to the creation of temporary marriages where the couple agrees not to commit to each other forever. Magary has a lovely way of making his lead character self-deprecating in a non-annoying way, he's a Joe Average hero who never pretends to be perfect.

Well, this will freak you right the heck out

2011-09-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

Well, this will freak you right the heck out. And I thought our urban legend of saying 'Bloody Mary' into a darkened mirror was scary. Japan is way crazier than us.

Whatever you do, don't Google this term. Uggggh. Can't unsee that.

Japan has even more creepy urban legends. And this one, too.

The man who was not Bartman

2011-09-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

This guy was sitting next to Steve Bartman, the Cubs fan who will be forever hated for interfering with a certain famous baseball. Great read.

“Come to Mauritius! Shower curtain capital OF THE WORLD!”

2011-09-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to link to Tom and Lorenzo's hilarious captioning of the always-wonderfully-weird Miss Universe national costumes.

Part one includes Miss El Salvador as a toilet-paper cover.
Part two includes a Tanzanian cyborg.

Sriracha cookbook

2011-09-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

I had no idea there was a Sriracha Cookbook! And the author has a blog, which I am totally bookmarking.

Not sure I really need the cookbook, as my own mental cookbook "put sriracha on as many dishes as possible," will probably suffice. But I'm sure tempted...

Here's an awesome interview with author Randy Clemens, who sounds like a great guy.

I vant to paint your Dracula head

2011-09-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

This Halloween countdown post from X-E is six years old, but it cracks me up. Matt reacquainted himself with a paint-your-own-Dracula-head kit that he had but wrecked as a kid, and gave it a shot.

Great lines from Matt's writeup: "I distinctly remember painting the thing outside, on one of those hot days where everyone in the family lays in the backyard like giant, gregarious sloths."

"I was a damned proud Dracula, living the role of the undead, carefully manifesting my temporarily ghoulish persona as the only boy in school who would chew raw meat on a dare,"

"A Discovery of Witches"

2011-09-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here's what I'm reading now: "A Discovery of Witches."

It's starting out a little like an adult Twilight, with an Oxford researcher who's also a witch (and trying to hide it) meeting a vampire in the university library. At first she's all angry with him and wishes he were gone, but you can sense a relationship coming.

I'm not the world's biggest "Twilight" fan, though I've read them all. Still, I like the Oxford setting and the plot seems to be going somewhere, so I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

Not a lot of shops in space

2011-09-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Why is Lando wearing Han Solo's clothes? "Family Guy" brought it up, and this video investigates.

Biblical candy corn

2011-09-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

For the religious nut in your neighborhood to give out at Halloween, making them feel a little less like it's the devil's holiday, I guess: Candy corn with Bible verses.

This is part of Matt at X-Entertainment's always awesome Halloween countdown, which deserves a daily check.

Bluer than blue

2011-09-11T17:40:00.001-07:00

Matt at X-E reviewed blue popcorn. I think we used to use those multi-colored popcorn kernels as kid and we'd get colored popcorn, but it wasn't near as cool as this.

If you like pina colada marshmallows...

2011-09-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

...and getting caught in the rain.

Fun review of pina colada marshmallows, which combines two things I'm fond of.

When we were in college, for a class called Persuasion in journalism, we had to invent a product and sell it. Mine was flavored marshmallows which I named Kissmallows. It was perhaps not the coolest product ever, but I've thought of it often as I see more and more advancements in marshmallow technology.

Has anyone tried these? I guess you can't taste the pineapple, just the coconut.

Japanese "Office"

2011-09-09T16:15:00.001-07:00

Two of my favorite things combined: Japan, and "The Office."

Orange you glad?

2011-09-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Bakerella made awesome Pumpkin Pie Bites. I just love the jack-o-lantern faces!

Amazing and engrossing story

2011-09-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

Now this is journalism. Can't wait for the next update.

All the other kids with the pumped-up kicks

2011-09-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

It is seriously embarassing how much I love this song. So much better than "Jeremy."

I may have to buy the album.

"Anya"

2011-09-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

When I read that Susan Fromberg Schaeffer had died, I instantly flashed back to the brown cover of a paperback that I'm sure my mom still has in her bedroom. Fromberg Schaeffer wrote "Anya" in 1974 and I'm pretty sure we have an early edition. It's the story of a Jewish woman living in Poland when World War II breaks out, and her struggle to survive and keep her daughter alive.

Now that I read some of the Amazon reviews, it seems that Fromberg Schaeffer based the book on interviews with a real woman who went through the Holocaust (and who later either sued or made some kind of legal settlement with the author). Had no idea. I may have to read it again, although as with all Holocaust literature, it can be hard to handle.

What is nothing?

2011-08-30T04:01:00.000-07:00

"What is Nothing?" Not really a question I asked as a kid, but for one blonde. bowl-haircutted 1970s boy, apparently it CONSUMES him.

Hilarious looking Rifftrax short!

Bad movies, good fun

2011-08-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alonso Duralde who joined me to chat about bad movies on msnbc.com/TODAY.com today, and to all the readers who dropped by to ask questions or leave a comment!

You can read the transcript here.

Truer words

2011-08-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

From Jack Shafer, recently laid-off media critic at Slate:

"I don't think any of us have been print journalists since 1996."

1996 was, in fact, the year I left my magazine job for Twin Cities Sidewalk, the now-dead Microsoft city guide.

Dear Sir or Madam will you read my book...

2011-08-29T17:03:00.001-07:00

An agent determines that the answer to "Paperback Writer" is ... no way Jose.

Inbred cat

2011-08-29T05:17:00.000-07:00

Inbred cat. (Thanks Anna!)

Best movie you never heard of

2011-08-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

Here's my review of my favorite movie of the year, "Senna."

Knowing PCJM readers, you may very well have heard of it. Whether you have or not, SEE IT.

Barista with attitude

2011-08-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hipster barista is pretty hilarious. So many variations on the same photo. Thanks, Max!

Corny

2011-08-26T15:39:00.001-07:00

Dammit, Rick, now you kind of make me want to try the sweet corn ice cream at the Minnesota State Fair!

Bad, bad, bad, bad movies

2011-08-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

Join me on Monday at 12:30 pm PT for a live chat about baaaad movies. We'll talk MST3K movies, big stars in big flops, movies so bad they're good, and more. I'll be joined by film critic Alonso Duralde.

Sign up now to get an email reminder on Monday!

Pow! Zok! Bam!

2011-08-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

Pug sings "Batman." (Thanks to Jenny for the link!)

Muppets and current events?

2011-08-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

"Real World" creators Bunim/Muray have teamed up with the alternative (!) arm of the Jim Henson company and will be doing a show called "History Of," in which Henson puppets (apparently not Muppets) act out current events. Like Spitting Image? Not really sure...

It's the best state fair in our state

2011-08-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

The Minnesota State Fair opens Thursday! The Strib has a web cam up so I can sneak peeks until we're actually in the state. Hopefully the web cam is in better shape than it was when I worked at the Strib, when it was always, always going down and we had to call the people in the promo booth and try and beg them to restart it.

We discover the dictionary!

2011-08-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

I love Rifftrax shorts, but this one is especially hilarious: "We Discover the Dictionary."

As Mike, Kevin and Bill point out: "As far as discoveries go, “Discovering the Dictionary” probably ranks down there with Columbus “discovering” America in terms of least impressive feats. First of all, the dictionary, much like America, was already there the whole time. It was just sitting on teacher’s desk, gathering dust. Second, much like America, people were already using the dictionary before these three idiots found it. In fact, it’s hard to argue that anybody could “discover” the dictionary when it’s in fact a book created by other people."

Martha, Martha, Martha!

2011-08-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

On Friday at 2:30 ET, Brian and I will be interviewed about the book on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius XM 110. We'll also be taking calls about lost 70s-80s products.

If you don't have satellite radio, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial and listen online.

Touchdown

2011-08-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

Deadspin's Haters' Guide to the top 25 College Football Teams is a spot of genius. Offensive and profane, sure, but beyond hilarious.

A few examples:

"Alabama. Oh, look! It's the school for girls who don't let their black maids use the indoor toilet!"

"Oregon. Ooooh, LOOGIT US! We're Oregon! No offense gets to the line of scrimmage and then turns the ball over as quickly as we do!"

"Nebraska. Welcome to the Big Ten! I think you Cornhusker fans will fit right in to a second-tier conference that plays unbearably slow, mistake-filled football, a conference that has no prayer of ever regaining its past glory. Really, you should have been here ages ago."

"TCU. Oh hey, you won the Rose Bowl last season! Oh hey, guess what? That game didn't actually mean anything because there was no playoff and no one gives a shit. I'M VERY EXCITED FOR YOUR NEXT PYRRHIC VICTORY."

"Georgia. When you need to go canoeing and be raped in the butt, there's no place like Georgia."

Damn, Drew Magary is hilarious. I'm going to have to buy his new novel, "The Postmortal."

Harold and Kumar return

2011-08-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

There's a line in the "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas" movie trailer where I nearly did an actual spit-take. Let's hope it's more like "White Castle" and less like "Guantanamo Bay."

Blonde ambition

2011-08-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

My MSNBC paean to the still-hunktacular-at-75 Robert Redford.

Where all the storytellers are above average

2011-08-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

Non-Minnesotans have no idea how cool this is, but Minnesota playwright Kevin Kling may take over at "Prairie Home Companion" when Garrison Keiller retires. THIS MEANS I MAY ACTUALLY HAVE TO LISTEN TO 'PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION,' PEOPLE.

Kevin Kling is outstandingly talented and if you like my writing at all, you will love his. Along the lines of Lynda Barry, kind of. If you ever get a chance to see his "Ice Fishing Play," take that chance. Rob and I still quote from it.

Our state fair is a great state fair, it's the best state fair in our state

2011-08-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

Every year, the Minnesota State Fair finds more foods to sell, many on sticks, and they're always awesome. Or, you know, terrible. These are chocolate-dipped jalapenos. May have to try them.

Royal dolls

2011-08-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Heh, my friend Linda Holmes wrote this for NPR. It's hilarious, especially where she says "And why does Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge look so ... panicky? She looks like she's saying, "TAKE THE PHOTO! TAKE IT! A BEAR TRAP IS CLAMPED AROUND MY ANKLE!"?

Truer words

2011-08-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

Who knew that Amazon would have a fascinating music thread? I got hooked into this thread on "the most compelling lyric ever' and am having fun reading through them. I admit, it's had to beat the one the thread begins with, which is Paul McCartney's "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love, you make."

Another good one, from Minnesota's own Bob Dylan: "You better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone, 'cause the times they are a-changing."

Oh, there's nothin' halfway, about the Iowa way to eat ya...

2011-08-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Minnesotans, I think Iowa may have even weirder on-a-stick foods than our State Fair does...

Deep fried Ho Hos on a stick?
Chicken lips on a stick? (Not really lips, apparently)
Cornbrats on a stick? (Bratwurst dipped in corndog batter!)
Rock candy on a stick?
Hot bologna on a stick? (That sounds dirty...)

The Dude abides

2011-08-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

My "Big Lebowski" package for work.I don't know about you, but I take comfort in that. Nice marmot.
--Slideshow of iconic moments from the film.
--Best quotes from the film
--Mike's piece on where is the cast now

The Harlequin?

2011-08-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Also on Jalopnik: They had a post asking which factory car color was the worst ever and in the comments, someone pointed out a multi-colored car called the VW Polo Harlequin. It was real! Though they didn't make that many, and only in the UK.

Most sexist commercial of all time?

2011-08-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

Is this the most sexist commercial of all time? It's gotta be right up there. Thanks, Jalopnik!

Now I lay me down to sleep

2011-08-13T20:45:00.001-07:00

Great slideshow of kids' bedrooms across the world. Some have so much, others, so little.

Upside: Throws great parties. Downside: Can't get over his old girlfriend Daisy

2011-08-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

Love this Twitter meme: Undateable characters in literature.

Hollywood Northwest

2011-08-05T04:27:00.000-07:00

They're once again filming a movie in my neighborhood. Too bad it's called "Fat Kid Rules the World."

Steampunk wedding cake

2011-08-04T04:42:00.000-07:00

Not really a fan of steampunk, but this steampunk wedding cake is breathtaking.

Thanks!

2011-08-03T23:17:00.001-07:00

Awesome new review of our book in The Weekender. Love it!

Why did no one tell me these things 10 years ago?

2011-08-03T22:44:00.000-07:00

10 things you should know before moving to Seattle. It's like the first one was written just for me, what with its "You'd better stay in Minnesota if you think a city should be able to function in snow."

Frankly Mr. Shankly...

2011-08-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

I've always imagined the stories that went with Smiths' songs. Sheila take a bow! Shoplifters of the world, unite and take over! Frankly Mr. Shankly! So I love, love, love that this guy has a project to make comic books telling the stories of Smiths' songs.

RIP, Mr. Bender

2011-08-02T22:38:00.000-07:00

I've always been fascinated by Frank Bender and the work he did, dating back of course to his sculpture that helped them catch John List. RIP, Mr. Bender. Thanks for using your talents for good.

Take me to your galaxy

2011-08-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

Rifftrax has some great shorts and some fun commentaries for big-budget movies, but they're adding more and more commentaries for full-length small-budget movies, the kind of flick they used to mock on MST3K. Love those! "The Galaxy Invader" is coming and it looks hilarious.

Say Mike, Bill and Kevin: "Our team of experts have yet to determine whether or not the actor portraying Joe even knew he was in a movie."

Like eating a lot of meals with a really cool friend

2011-08-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

So I stumbled across the blog Immoveable Feast, and now all I want is for everyone to leave me alone for as long as it takes to read every single entry.

It's written by Justin in Pasadena, and he likes to review his meals. Whether they're fast food, fancy restaurant, Trader Joe's frozen entrees or something he cooked up himself (this guy knows how to make a sauce), the entries are often hilarious and always fun to read. I especially liked this one on Shanghai McNuggets (remember those? they may have to be a GenXtinct entry) and this one where he tests and compares a metric ton of fast-food condiments.

People, this is why the Internet was invented.

Hitler's oak trees

2011-08-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

I have never heard tell of Hitler's oak trees before. Apparently they were given to Olympic medalists in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, including the legendary Jesse Owens, he whose very skin color must have tortured Hitler when he won.

How could they lose the trees, though?

(Via Deadspin.)

Complicated crayons

2011-07-31T23:05:00.000-07:00

Check out this cool chart, showing how Crayola crayon names have changed over the years. From blue to denim. purple to vivid violet. Those dramatic names will just seem normal to my Kelly.

DB Cooper (no relation)

2011-07-31T23:02:00.000-07:00

Man, imagine if they finally solve the DB Cooper case...it's one of those mysteries I thought would never get solved. Then I'd like to see Jon Benet Ramsey, Jacob Wetterling, Jodi Huisentruitt, Anne Barber Dunlap and the Jeffrey McDonald "Fatal Vision" case all not just solved, but completely explained.

A gift from a mother-in-law she'll never meet

2011-07-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

In vitally important world news, Kate Middleton has remodeled a pair of Princess Diana's sapphire and diamond earrings, from posts to drops. I like them better Kate's way!

Cereal insanity?

2011-07-24T00:37:00.000-07:00

"Snap, Crackle, Pop Culture" is a fun little book that features weird cereal box covers paired with fun comments. Not dissimilar from another pop-culture book you may have heard of, and since our book also loves some cereal, I had to check it out. I'm jealous that his photos were in color--we had to settle for B&W.

The author, Ed Daly, also has a fun Twitter feed. Sample tweets: "I've seen more dashboard temperature pictures today on Facebook than there are cars in America," and "My levels of optimism and dilusion reach their apex whenever I try to reheat leftover French Fries from a restaurant."

Beep beep, and beep beep, yeah

2011-07-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

LOVE this new design for the VW Beetle.

Bloody well, then

2011-07-21T05:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently some Brits are upset about Americanisms slipping onto their shores.

OK, fine if it's something really stupid and trendy, but what's wrong with words like "hospitalize" and "ouster"? I love that they are angry with "wrench" for "spanner," since the only time I ever heard "spanner" was in Dire Straits' "Industrial Disease." (Thanks to Alex for the link!)

Everybody in the pool!

2011-07-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

If I were J.K. Rowling or Bill Gates, I would have a pool like this. Ooh, that poolside cabana.

Too much loss

2011-07-20T05:25:00.000-07:00

Joan Didion's sad "Year of Magical Thinking" chronicled what happened to her when her husband suddenly died. Shortly after, her daughter, Quintana Roo, also died, suddenly and at a young age.
Now Didion has somehow managed to write a book about that loss, too. I'm sure I'll read "Blue Nights," but I can't exactly say I'm looking forward to it. It's sad that she had to write it at all.

Notice how similar the two book covers are.

Hi, future man!

2011-07-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

A Seattle homeowner found a note in the wall left by a previous owner in 1973. "I hope your world is a little bit better than ours," he wrote.

Is it? In some ways, not in others.

And now I want to hide notes in my walls.