Pop culture
A few weeks ago, while I was attending the TV critics' summer press tour, a friend and I decided we were tired of being surrounded by today's stars. So we headed off just a few miles from our hotel to visit the final resting places of some of yesterday's stars.
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The Wall Street Journal had one of those so-weird-it-almost-can't-be-real stories a week ago. It's about how some parents are now paying hundreds of dollars to "name consultants" to help them name their babies.
I am thisclose to thinking the story is a late April Fool's Day hoax, because...what? How hard is it to come up with a baby name? CONTINUED >>
Harry Potter fans, rejoice: In under two months, you'll be holding the final book in your hot little hands (or "lugging it around," if past page-lengths are any guide). The final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will be published on July 21, and the next movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," will be in theaters July 13. It's a Wild About Harry summer.
But forget the movie for now, loyal readers know what happens there. Let's talk about the next book. (If you don't like speculation and possible spoilers, duck out of this post now and go enjoy a chocolate frog or two.) CONTINUED >>
People on their vacations in the Bahamas actually tore themselves away from the beach to mill around a courthouse today and wait for news in the Anna Nicole Smith paternity case. They'd have been better off soaking up the sun. The results were what pretty much everyone expected: Larry Birkhead is baby Dannielynn's father, and give him credit, he at least seems legitimately thrilled about the news.
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On Wednesday's "South Park," which somehow managed to roll up the trappings of Easter with a mystery out of "The DaVinci Code," Marshmallow Peeps made an important appearance. While trying to keep ninjas (!) from killing Stan, the Leigh Teabing character from "DaVinci" puts a box of Peeps in the microwave. They expand, and expand, and finally EXPLODE, sending marshmallowy goo out all the windows and doors of his mansion. Just like real life!
Anyway, Will over at Clicked reminded me that I usually post a batch of Marshmallow Peep links as Easter approaches, and so here goes. (See, people? Not EVERY post is about "American Idol," just ALMOST every post.) CONTINUED >>
I think of Valentine's Day as one of those Hallmark holidays, created so we all spend money on greeting cards and roses and chocolates. But then I think: What's so bad about roses and chocolates, and if a greeting card reminds someone to reach out to someone they love, who am I to object?
And I can't help but fall under its spell: A friend and I sometimes buy a whole box of those little-kid cartoon valentines and sign them all from different people (famous folks, fictional characters, people we used to know) and swap the entire box. Nothing like getting a Scooby-Doo valentine "signed" by Bill Gates. (It's a long story...)
With that in mind, here are my favorite Valentine's Day-related links, and feel free to add in your own. CONTINUED >>
I was out of town last week and missed out on all the initial fuss over Anna Nicole Smith's death, but things are only continuing to get weirder. This Associated Press article, in which a reporter checks into a Hollywood, Florida suite similar to the one where Smith spent her last hours, presents an eloquent take without being maudlin.
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