Pop Culture Curmudgeon October 2009 Archives » 2/2

A Cool Breast Cancer Resource

I interrupt our regularly scheduled pop culture ranting to celebrate breast cancer awareness month with a post over at The Romantic Journey.

We’ll be back to normal next week.

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Some of Our Favorites Return

By now, you’ve probably heard the news that Lauren Graham is joining the cast of NBC’s Parenthood.

You may also have heard that Matthew Perry is coming back to network television with a show for ABC and Amy Sherman-Palladino is writing a series for HBO.

I was happy to see Jenna Elfman, Courteney Cox, and Dan Byrd back on TV this fall, even though I’m not watching Accidentally on Purpose and Cougar Town is a DVR-only show.

What actors do you want to see back on TV?

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Visions of Winchesters: Supernatural Blog Carnival, Oct. 14

Welcome to the October 14, 2009, edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival.

Last Week’s Episode
This Week’s Episode
News
Fun Stuff
Spoilers: On a separate page to protect the spoilerphobes

Last Week’s Episode

Supernatural: Fallen Idols
Suzanne presents her recap posted at Damsel Undistressed. Suzanne used to recap Supernatural at Sci Fi Chicks but has now moved them to her own site.

Supernatural: Paris Hilton Is a Homicidal Maniac
Buddy TV’s recaps always have great titles. Personally, I think it might be true, we just haven’t found out about it yet. I mean, what does she feed her pack of chihuahuas?

TV Review: Supernatural Fallen Idols
Sahar shares his thoughts on last week’s episode at Blog Critics. Short version: Adding Paris Hilton did not ruin the show.

TV Recap: Not a Lot of Loving It Going on Here
M.R. Reed shares some background on Supernatural fan-dom, our feelings about the treatment the show gets from The CW, and some Twitter silliness before launching into his review of last week’s episode. He defends Paris Hilton’s performance against even the show insiders themselves. A very thought-provoking post. I’m not going to say that I loved Paris, but I may feel less ire when I watch the episode again in repeats or on DVD.

5.05 Fallen Idol
Supernatural Wiki gathers all of the pop culture references from last week’s episode. This is a very cool feature. I typically get 90% of the pop culture references, but I love getting confirmation of the ones I got and finding out the ones I didn’t.

This Week’s Episode

New Promo: Win or Lose
Here’s a video promo for tomorrow’s episode. Personally, I am interested to see how the episode differs from Bedtime Stories and

Supernatural: I Believe the Children Are Our Future Clip
BCS Review has a clip from tomorrow’s episode.

First Photos from Supernatural Episode 6
And Shock Till You Drop has still photos from the episode to whet your appetites.

News
A Hunter’s Guide to “Supernatural” Weapons
Kris DeLeon compiled a nice slideshow of the various weapons our boys use to protect themselves from the evil supernatural creatures they encounter.

Jensen Ackles: DaKine Dude
Jensen Ackles is a stand-up guy who is willing to take photos with fans in the airport. And apparently wears a DaKine cap. (Mr. Pop Culture Curmudgeon, who is from Hawaii, would be so excited–if he cared what clothing and accessories celebs wear.)

Jared Padalecki: I Believe the Children Are Our Future
Like many of us, when J.Paddz travels, he uses luggage to carry his clothing and other belongings. I love silly celeb news.

The Vampire Diaries up 100% with Women 18-34
Really? They increased their viewership from last year when they weren’t on TV? Seriously, I know what they are saying, but it seems like a less than clear way of saying it. The SPN gem here is that girls watch Supernatural, too.

Fun Stuff

I’m Erica, and I’m an Addict … That Is, a Romance Writer
Urban fantasy author and Supernatural fan Erica Hayes introduces herself on the group blog The Romantic Journey. She is a Sam girl, and she is hoping to gather more Sam girls in the comments to tak a stand against we rampant Dean girls.

That concludes this edition. Don’t forget that I’m still looking for a Sam girl to do a guest post. Email me at popculture AT jennifer-roland.com if you’re interested.

And submit your blog article to the next edition of The Supernatural Blog Carnival using the carnival submission form. Past posts can be found on the blog carnival index page or by clicking Supernatural in the tag cloud.

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Movies That Stand the Test of Time

I was watching Empire Records over the weekend, and even though it is so steeped in the mid-90s alterna-culture, I think it still stands up. The funny lines are still funny, and the underdog story is fun.

Many comedies don’t work after a few years have passed, because their jokes are based on current events and ideas. There are some great movies, of course, such as anything by John Hughes or Cameron Crowe. However, there is one relatively unknown 80s movie that is funny even more than 20 years later: Secret Admirer. If you can find a copy of it to rent or buy, go for it. It is like a classic French farce, with a set of unsigned love letters that each reader thinks is written to him or her.

What movies stand the test of time for you?

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Call for Submissions to the Supernatural Blog Carnival

The Visions of Winchesters blog carnival is coming up again. Please submit your recaps, previews, news, and spoilers no later than 5pm Pacific, Tuesday, October 13.

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So, How Did We Feel about Paris Hilton?

Last night, Supernatural had a very special guest star: Paris Hilton.

I wasn’t appalled by her presence, but I could have done without her. What did you think of her performance?

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Want to Meet Some Cool Romance Writers?

I’ve been a little scarce this week because I have been launching a new group blog with five other romance writers.

We’re introducing ourselves, giving away copies of our books, and talking about all sorts of fun stuff.

Visit us at The Romantic Journey and follow us on Twitter.

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Visions of Winchesters: Supernatural Blog Carnival, Oct. 7

Welcome to the October 7, 2009, edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival.

Last Week’s Episode
This Week’s Episode
News
Spoilers: On a separate page to protect the spoilerphobes

Last Week’s Episode

Supernatural: The End
Suzanne presents her recap posted at Damsel Undistressed. Suzanne used to recap Supernatural at Sci Fi Chicks but has now moved them to her own site.

Supernatural: “The End” Is Near
Maureen Ryan, the Chicago Tribune’s TV Watcher, shares her reactions to last week’s episodes.

Supernatural: The End (5.04) review
Phillip Lee McCall II presents his review of the episode. In a nutshell, he didn’t love it.

TV Recap: When Deans Collide
And we close with M.R. Reed’s recap and thoughts.

This Week’s Episode

First Look: Paris Hilton in Supernatural
John Laconis tries to assuage our fears that Paris Hilton will suck rocks. To tell you the truth, I’m actually more worried that she will do fine. Kripke, I swear, if you make me like Paris Hilton even one iota, I will hunt you down and for you to watch One Night in Paris in total Clockwork Orange style.

Supernatural Boss to Fans: Withhold Judgment on Paris Hilton
Ausiello shares Eric Kripke’s explanation of why he is doing this to us.

Supernatural: We’ll Always Have Paris
More about tomorrow night’s illustrious guest star.

News
Do You Have Sympathy for the Devil?
Our friends at BuddyTV always ask the important questions. this time, they want to know if you are on the devil’s side, at least in the Supernatural-verse.

Friday the 13th Sequel Gets an Official Release Date
They will make a sequel to Friday the 13th, but there is no news yet about whether Jared will return.

The CW Continues to Bite Competition with Vampire Diaries Ratings
Nadya Vlassof posts at Deadbolt News about the relative strength of the CW’s Thursday night. Apparently, our boys are “aesthetically pleasing.”

That concludes this edition. Don’t forget that I’m still looking for a Sam girl to do a guest post. Email me at popculture AT jennifer-roland.com if you’re interested.

And submit your blog article to the next edition of The Supernatural Blog Carnival using the carnival submission form. Past posts can be found on the blog carnival index page or by clicking Supernatural in the tag cloud.

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Does David Letterman’s Sex Life Matter? Not to Me.

On last night’s Late Show, David Letterman spoke of an extortion threat he had received and the sexual relations he had with female staffers.

This morning, the news and entertainment media were abuzz at the thought that Letterman had been promiscuous. Taylor, Victoria, and Kenny on Cosmo Radio’s morning show were particularly upset. Taylor, in fact, said she felt she could no longer trust her “Will he cheat?” meter if even Letterman was a cheater.

My first reaction was, “Isn’t that why men get into show business in the first place? So they can bang a lot of women?” Maybe I’m overly crass and cynical, but I don’t care if Letterman had sex with women, as long as the sex was consensual and the women were adults. It is not nice that he cheated on his long-time girlfriend (who is now his wife), but it doesn’t make him less funny as a comedian or talk show host. As long as he did nothing criminal in these liaisons, it’s a personal matter between him and his wife and the other women. It’s not my business or anyone else’s.

Separate the art and the artist, people.

After my diatribes about special treatment for celebrities, you might be asking if I’m showing a bit of hypocrisy here. I don’t think so. The people I railed against committed crimes—they were either convicted or pleaded guilty to those crimes, so it is a legal fact.

If we find out that Letterman’s sexual activities were less than legal, I will have to change my tune. I believe strongly that people who commit crimes need to serve their time. I believe that people who commit such crimes as rape, murder (or vehicular manslaughter, if you prefer), and torture of people or animals should not continue to serve as role models in the athletic or artistic arenas as if nothing ever happened. I don’t believe that their personal actions take away from their artistic or athletic ability—although I may be a little irrational in my desire that these people no longer continue to collect million-dollar paychecks and serve no jail time.

I liken David Letterman’s sexual misconduct to that of Bill Clinton. It was a stupid choice on his part. It wouldn’t make me want him as my life partner. But it doesn’t have any effect on his ability to do his job.

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