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Culture Shock

Peeling back the layers of pop culture to get to the soft, gooey flesh of things.

July 1, 2009

Judd Apatow, revenge artist

There's a great Playboy Interview with Judd Apatow this month (link is work-safe) in which he talks a little about the cancellation of his TV shows Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, which featured comedy superstars Seth Rogan and Jason Segal before they were famous.

PLAYBOY: Do you ever attempt to get revenge?
APATOW: I go so far as to attempt to turn every single person who ever acted on any show I’ve ever been involved with into a feature-film star just so I can prove I was right about the TV show. Sometimes the actors will say to me, “Wow, you must really think I’m good.” No, I don’t think you’re good at all. I just have to prove to that goddamn TV executive that he made a mistake. It’s not a sign of my support; it’s a sign of how insane I am. I’m the most arrogant man on earth, and I always need to be right.

 

On an almost completely unrelated note...

Kendra Wilkinson, one of Hugh Hefner's former Girls Next Door playthings apparently got married last weekend...AT THE PLAYBOY MANSION.

Wilkinson married NFL player Hank Baskett with Hefner, her ex-boyfriend-old-enough-to-be-her-grandfather, in attendence.

I guess the rich really are different. How much money and fame would you have to amass before it would stop being awkward to get married with the guy who used to use your fiance as a Viagra toy looking on?

 

June 30, 2009

Bourbon + Natual Cherry Flavor = Crazy Delicious

Finally, a way to get wary friends and family to understand my love of Bourbon.

Jim Beam has created Red Stag - a bourbon aged four years and infused with natrual Black Cherry flavor.

This, my friends, is what we call a gateway dram.

Will have to get my hands on some of this soon and report back on whether it can be recommended.

 

What might have been: Pushing Daisies edition

Many, many of my favorite shows have been shot out from under me after a season or two in the last decade.

A number of those shows have come from the mind of one man: Bryan Fuller, the writer/producer behind Wonder Falls, Dead Like Me and, most recently, the late lamented Pushing Daisies.

That's why I was glad to see this interview with Fuller, in which he talks a little about what might have been had Pushing Daisies gotten a third season.

Here's hoping those rumors that Fuller will continue the story as a comic book come to fruition.

 

June 25, 2009

Buzz Aldrin is so gangsta

 

Just in case you need another reason to love Buzz Aldrin.

 

 

 

June 22, 2009

John Hodgman pulls Obama's nerd card

In this clip from the TV & Radio Correspondent's Dinner, TV personality, computer pitchman, and author  John Hodgman  questions President Obama's nerd credentials at the TV & Radio Correspondents dinner.

The president fares better than I expected.

 

June 17, 2009

Father's Day Gifts for your dad's Inner Geek

Three days until Father's day and here at Culture Shock we're featuring two father's day gift suggestions (one splurge, one budget conscious) every day between now and Saturday June, 21 -- at which point, you're on your own.

Today's featured gifts:

STAR TREK DVDs ($64- $187)

Did excitement over the new Star Trek movie get your dad revved up about the old series all over again, or make him bitterly nostalgic for the Shatner/Nimoy era he felt was sullied by these snot-nosed young punks?

Either way, you can make his Father's Day with Star Trek DVDs. You can get the any of the first three seasons remastered (and I mean gorgeously remastered) on DVD for around $70, or all three for around $160.

If dad was a fan of the original movies, you can get an even better deal -- the first six movies in the series, featuring the original crew, for just $64.

 

 

PEEK PRONTO E-MAIL/TEXT DEVICE ($20 for the basic model)

Have a dad (or even a granddad) who hasn't yet upgraded to a smartphone? Having trouble convincing them to pay for service that will allow them to get e-mail and text messaging? Here's something of a gateway drug -- the Peek Pronto, basic model starting at $20 with unlimited e-mail (from 2 accounts) and text message service for just $20.00 a month. No contract necessary.

The Pronto - this basic model and its more sophisticated, more expensive cousin - is also available in a variety of different colors at Amazon and Target.

Buy this for him and maybe even get him a a few months of service (it's $16.65 a month if you buy the first quarter up front) and you could have him texting and e-mailing from everywhere in no time at all. I know from whence I speak -- a few years ago I couldn't get my mother interested in MP3s as she felt she'd had to switch formats too often in her life already. I bought her a small, basic MP3 player and today she's surfing the Internet on her iPod Touch, updating her Facebook status while she waits in line at the DMV and buying books from the Kindle store.

 

Questioning the iPhone scheme

Here's a great question that's apparently being asked by U.S. Senators:

Should AT&T be the only service allowed to sell the iPhone?

I still have a pretty low-end Blackberry that I got for free when I switched services. I know some folks who have iPhones and the consensus seems to be that the phone is terrific but the service (in Greensboro, at least) leaves something to be desired.

It is, indeed, bad enough that an artificial economy of overpriced phones "subsidized" by service companies traps users in long-term contracts and that unlike much of the rest of the world many of our phones don't work universally on any service we choose. But what ticks me off is that even if I laid out the ridiculous cost of an unsubsidized iPhone I couldn't choose to have service on it through any company but AT&T without hacking it.

What do you guys think? Have an iPhone? Love or hate the AT&T service?

 

 

 

 

June 16, 2009

Father's Day gifts for the golfer and movie lover

Four days until Father's Day, and here at Culture Shock we're featuring two Father's Day gift suggestions (one splurge, one budget conscious) every day between now and Saturday, June 21 -- at which point you're on your own.

Today's featured gifts:

PUTT UP OR SHUT UP RUG KIT FOR GOLFERS ($140.00)

I've always sort of been with Mark Twain on golfing -- I think of it as a good walk ruined. But many dads are hopelessly in love with the game. So hopelessly in love that they drive our mothers nuts putting down that artificial putting turf at home or in the office.

Give your dad an upgrade this year with this attractive modular rug designed to simulate the greens and the rough and configurable into par 3, 4 and 5 configrations.

 

GRAN TORINO on DVD ($12.99)

 

 

Many men grow up idolizing their dads. But many dads grew up idolizing Clint Eastwood.

The Academy Award-winning director is in front of the camera again this year as a grizzled Korean War veteran taking on the gangs infesting his declining neighborhood and earning the respect of neighbors through kicking ass and taking names. It's been a long time since Dirty Harry growled "Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?" -- but when grandpa Clint growls "Get off my lawn" from behind a rifle, that heartwarming, pants-wetting magic is still there.

Don't believe me? Check out the trailer here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 15, 2009

Captain America, back from the dead ... yawn

I love Captain America.

I'm not ashamed of it.

I've been reading the comic since I was a kid - even when it was really lousy.

But I'm having a lot of trouble getting excited about Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, coming back from the dead this week.

And can you blame me?

The list of Marvel and DC superheroes and supervillains who have "died" only to come back from the dead is, at this point, a hell of a lot longer than the list of Marvel and DC superheroes and villains that I still find interesting.

Some years ago, comics writer Grant Morrison wrote a memo about reviving interest in the X-Men. There was a list of things the company had been doing to bore or anger readers for decades and he suggested avoiding them. As I recall one of the ones with which I agreed most was killing characters off just to bring them back again. It may be true that Morrison has broken his own rule on this one -- but I still think it's a good rule. How are we supposed to be at all affected by the death of major or even minor characters if we know they're just having a rest and will be back shortly?

 

Father's Day gift suggestions for the hopeless procrastinator

Less than a week before Father's Day and I'm willing to bet most of you are still shopping.

Or having just been reminded there's less than a week until Father's Day, are now shopping.

And so, as a community service to the procrastinating masses, I am featuring two father's day gift suggestions (one splurge, one budget conscious) every day between now and Saturday June, 21 -- at which point, you're on your own.

Today's featured gifts:

COOPER'S BREWERY MICRO BREWERY KIT ($99)

 

If your father is anything like mine, there are few things he loves more than his wife and family. But running a close second and third are good beer and a good project. No reason you can't give him both in one gift.

This micro brewery kit, by venerable Australian brewer Cooper's, is the world's best-selling home brewery kit. And for good reason. It's a great starter kit for those who've never brewed at home, comes with all the gear and instructions you'll need to get started right away and even includes an instructional DVD.

If dad gets deep into it he can invest in plenty more home brewery extras, but this is everything he'll need to get his first few batches perfected -- and share the results with you.

GOURMET SALTS FOR COOKING AND BARBECUING ($7- $10)

Not every dad is a gourmet chef -- but many are grill masters.

Gourmet salts from Salt Traders LLC will bring out the mad scientist in your dad when he hits the grill.

From Hawaiian Black Lava Salt to Dark Pink Himalayan Salt, this stuff is not only a great upgrade from common table salt but even from some of the gourmet sea salt you can get in higher-end stores. And they're priced low enough for you to give a variety, if you like.

Have a great father's day gift idea you'd like to see featured here? Shoot me an e-mail at Joekillian@gmail.com, with Culture Shock somewhere in the subject line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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