Bringing you the latest news in the wall-to-wall coverage of the death of the King of Pop, we’d like to let you know what stories are obsessing not just the celebu-tainment fluff programs like “Extra” and “The Insider” (damn you, Lara Spencer!), but also the legit news organizations like CNN and MSNBC that have worked themselves into a frenzied lather with the incessant “Breaking News” news crawls or bloated panels of experts. Read the rest of this entry »
[Video: Why Doesn't Nokia Name Its Phones]
Not too terribly much according to the folks in Nokia’s R & D Department.
Or, perhaps the technological mavens at our favorite Finnish phone manufacturer feel that their handsets transcend the pedestrian markings of a common name, and prefer instead to assign a string of ones and zeros to their beloved mobile multimedia devices.
But for many, a high-end cell or smart phone is an object of desire. It would be virtually impossible to deny that on the whole, we see devices like these as extensions of ourselves — we customize our ring tones with our favorite songs, substitute our original face plates with ones that offer a bit more pizazz, and install applications that reflect our contrasting lifestyles and personalities, and to top it off, we buy lavish accessories that further increase the appeal and functionality of our devices.
Yes, the stuff of dreams. But who dreams of numbers? Read the rest of this entry »
One of the pleasures of reading David Lebovitz’s new book, “The Sweet Life of Paris”, besides the scrumptious recipes (absinthe cake, fromage blanc soufflé, dulce de leche brownies), are the spot-on observations he makes about what it’s like to live as an ex-pat food writer and Chez-Panisse-trained chef in the City of Lights. Lebovitz writes an entertaining blog that, like his book, does not merely concentrate on food topics, but he is of the belief that to know the culture of a place, you really have to know its people.
Having spent a couple of years living in the French capital myself, I found myself nodding my head as Lebovitz attempted to answer the question: what is a Parisian like? We all know the expected answer –that they’re arrogant and rude, and almost a year ago, we wrote about how the French were the world’s rudest people. We also have heard that the French think of themselves as truly special and unique, with a rich culture of literature, art, music, fashion, food, theatre etc., that is the envy of the world.
The National Park Service has announced that starting this weekend, over 100 national parks around the country that normally charge admission will be absolutely free. This is an amazing opportunity to be able to visit such jewels as Yosemite National Park (normal fee $20) and many others, and really be proud of what this nation has to offer in its scenic natural beauty. Read the rest of this entry »
We love our root beer. We like it ice cold, maybe a little foamy, but there is this unmistakable taste that makes it a uniquely American soft drink. Something downright wholesome; it may even make you think of when you were growing up. Read the rest of this entry »
Uber-Twit Ashton Kutcher, occasionally outraged global citizen, took to sending a Tweet yesterday to all 2 million-plus other Twits that follow his every move and utterance. He is apparently livid at the brutal prison sentence handed down on Sunday to American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee by the North Korean government. Ling and Lee, who both work for Current TV, based in San Francisco, were captured and arrested on March 17 for, in North Korea’s view, crossing illegally into its territory. Read the rest of this entry »
We have now hit rock bottom. In the annals of utter stupidity and in the dark depths of political desperation, we can now crown a champion in the current smear campaign against Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. That person’s name is Mark Krikorian.
That’s K-R-I-K-O-R-I-A-N, and pronounced
”Krik-O-Ree-An”, and it may well be a variation on “Kirkorian”, like the old dude who used to own part of Chrysler and married the young trophy wife. Read the rest of this entry »
The New York Times is reporting today that AT&T, one of the principal corporate sponsors of “American Idol”, may have unfairly swayed some votes in the final vote between Adam Lambert and eventual winner Kris Allen. Apparently, AT&T is admitting that it was asked to provide free cellphones at two local parties in Arkansas, and it went so far as to instruct the home state residents of Allen on how to send text messages for free. Read the rest of this entry »
This Friday (May 29), ABC will air a special called “Un-broke: What You Need to Know About Money”, which will attempt to explain this current recession to a distinct audience that pretty much needs it –the same young people who get roped into credit card debt, live well beyond their means because they have to have the 22” rims, and who may well find themselves, like so many people across America, broke. Knowing that our attention-addled youth won’t listen to some hand-wringing let’s-get-in-a-circle like Linda Ellerbee used to do on Nickelodeon, or a Nightline-type discussion by Robert Krulwich, ABC decided to bring out some big guns. Enter Will Smith, the Jonas Brothers, Samuel L. Jackson, Cedric the Entertainer and others, along with “Good Morning America” contributor Mellody Hobson, who try to talk to young people without talking down to young people. Read the rest of this entry »
Shepard Fairey created something truly inspiring in his original and stirring renditions of HOPE, OBEY and ultimately OBAMA. Since then, hoards of copycat wannabes have been flooding the intranets with their own Photoshopped, inferior versions.
And yes, you can even OBAMA YOURSELF should you be so inclined.
So let’s get them all up and and over with, shall we?
Oh snap! First it’s KFC and now it’s El Pollo Loco! Not content with their own free giveaway of their new grilled chicken, the Mexican-American chain is not taking this lying down. In fact, they have been doing grilled chicken for decades now, well before KFC decided to get with the times. And it’s very good (trust us on this). Read the rest of this entry »
As we try to figure out what “Rat Pack” means for this week’s American Idol musical theme, let’s step back a bit and assess what seems like a litany of lowlights and few highlights of this lackluster season. We are down to the final five contestants, one female and the rest male. Read the rest of this entry »
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. What “new grilled chicken”? You haven’t heard? You haven’t seen the ads on TV? Bowing to pressure from the food police, if that’s your cynical view, or simply finding a way to catch up with the 21st century, Colonel Sanders has decided that grilled is the big thing these days. And isn’t it? I mean, this whole country seems to get fat just by thinking about food and stuffing itself with reruns of Paula Deen and “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, starring that spiky haired lardbutt, Guy Fieri, on the Food Network all day long. Something’s gotta give. Simple as that. Read the rest of this entry »
The new Seth Rogen film “Observe and Report” is certainly one of the most repulsive and morally reprehensible films out there right now. And it’s also one of the most creative –due, in large part to its main star. The film, by director Jody Hill, opened last weekend to better-than-expected box office numbers (just over $11 mil.), but it also unleashed a slight controversy about a purported date rape scene. More about that later. Read the rest of this entry »
A Harris Poll conducted earlier this month revealed what we have long suspected during this recession: Americans are not eating out as much, preferring to stay at home to cook. In the Harris Poll, conducted in an on-line poll between March 9 and March 16 about their upcoming spending plans, three-quarters of the 2,355 Americans polled said they would decrease spending on eating out in restaurants (74%) and on entertainment (74%). These figures are up from November, when 64% and 65% of them, respectively, predicted their spending behavior. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s face it: the economy is in the toilet, we’re one paycheck away from living in the streets, and we’ve been shocked into suddenly having very little —losing a job, a house, a car, a livelihood, a thinner 401K and portfolio. What portfolio, you say? You don’t invest in stocks? What 401K? You don’t have enough to invest either, huh? You’re just struggling, like many millions of families around the country, to just keep your head above water.
We’ve rapidly had to become a country that is taking a shockingly cold look at itself –a nation of people living beyond their means, a nation of debtors who have lived off plastic and put off responsibility until later, and now dealing not just with the devastating dislocations like, you know, not having a home all of a sudden. Read the rest of this entry »
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