Archive for category pop culture
Anna David on Reality Matters
Posted by admin in Reality programs, pop culture on July 28, 2010
Anna David (Photo: Eric Fischer Photo)
You might recognize Anna David (blog, Twitter) from several different forms of media, including her novels; her freelance pieces for countless newspapers, magazines and websites; or her four-year stint as the sex and relationship expert on G4’s Attack of the Show. This past April saw the release of an anthology on reality television (conceived and edited by David), Reality Matters: 19 Writers Come Clean About the Shows We Can’t Stop Watching. I was lucky enough to recently email interview David about the anthology.
Tim O’Shea: Did you let the contributors pick which reality show they wrote about? Or did folks have to fight over who got to write about American Idol or Sober House?
Anna David: I asked each writer I contacted to tell me the show that either resonated the most with them or had changed their perspective in some way. Several people had a lot of shows they were considering covering and we’d talk it out and try to figure out which sounded like it would make the best essay. With Idol, I happened to know the world’s greatest expert on it – my friend, Richard Rushfield, who covered Idol for the L.A. Times and is now doing a book on the show. So there was no one else who could do that one. There were a couple fights over The Hills, though. And even some over Real World, but I pulled rank on that one.
New to Me: The Quietus
Posted by admin in Film, Music, pop culture on July 27, 2010
The Quietus
Even though it has been around since 2008, I only just recently learned about the British music/pop culture site, The Quietus. Here’s how it describes itself:
“At the start of 2008 we were of the opinion that there was a massive gap in the market for an online music publication not in thrall to snarky one-upmanship, hype, or an overload of fast-click, low-quality content. We also thought there was a gap in the market for a magazine that treated music of all genres from the last 30 years with the same reverence that titles such as MOJO and Word treat the rock & roll hall of fame.We chose a completely spurious Year Zero of 1974 because that’s when Kraftwerk released ‘Autobahn’ as a single. It seemed to us the birth of modern music. Modern sounding, that is.
Since then we’ve aimed to bring you the best of everything. We’re here to give music ranging from dubstep, death metal and post punk to hip hop, pop and spacerock the coverage it deserves. We’d like to inject some much-needed humour, intelligence and passion back into journalism, so we run in-depth features, reviews and opinion pieces from the best new writers and established greats. We also cover film, books, TV and comics, old and new, concentrating on quality over hype.”
Any site that focuses on quality over hype is a critical resource I should pay attention to on a more frequent basis. I would love to write more about The Quietus, but for right now I just want to check out the April2010 interview the site did with Adam Ant.
Core Reaction on Hulu Plus Remains the Same
Posted by admin in episodic TV, late night TV, pop culture, streaming video on June 30, 2010
A few months back I shared my initial thoughts on the prospect of paying for hulu. My opinion, now that the subscription-based model has been revealed, remains the same for the most part. Granted, I was mistaken in thinking that all content would require a paid subscription. I’m glad to see I was wrong and that we’ll still be able to get something for free.
Hulu has posted a brief intro video clip (free!) explaining Hulu Plus.
Webnewser has a great roundup of various industry/pundit reactions.
My parting thought/side note? I find the new Hulu Plus logo really lacking and that’s a shame as I liked the initial core hulu logo design.
Tweaks to the Blog
Posted by admin in pop culture on June 19, 2010
I’ve added my Twitter RSS feed on the right hand side. I’ve also added a recent posts widget, as well as the means to highlight recent comments.
Are there improvements you would like to see added to the site? I’m always open to suggestions on any front, so please let me know. Post a comment here or drop me a line via email (editor AT talkingwithtim.com)
Another Reason to Love New York
Posted by admin in Film, pop culture on June 17, 2010
The Temporary Greening of a Street
Joey Manley is a writer and businessman who I interviewed many, many years ago for a long-dead comic book website. Manley is a smart fellow, and I enjoy reading his tweets on Twitter. But for some reason, I never had checked out his blog…until today.
Recently Manley blogged about his walk to work in New York, along West 28th Street. You need to go to read Manley’s experience first-hand. It’s one of those “only in New York” experiences. His photos and text must be appreciated in total at his site, but here’s a snippet:
“Some days, lilacs followed by cedars followed by tea roses followed by random vines. It’s like a narrow sidewalk-sized botanical garden that changes every morning. One of New York’s small pleasures.”
If that’s not enough to spark your interest, Manley covers a broad range of pop culture topics on a regular basis. I look forward to reading more of his Netflix Diaries entries.
Coming This Fall: I Want My Google TV
Posted by admin in pop culture on May 20, 2010
The web on my TV, the ability to search my TV like the web. That’s what Google TV seems to be. And I cannot wait to see if the reality is as good as the hype from today’s announcement. In the meantime, consider this promo video to find out what has my pop culture mind so interested.
Of course, I realize the irony that this will likely make me want to watch TV even more than I already do now.
Johnny Bacardi on His Pop Culture Perspective
Posted by admin in Music, comics, episodic TV, pop culture on April 21, 2010
A sample from one of Johnny Bacardi's many pop culture outlets
In terms of pop culture insight, I wish I was as informed and diverse in my knowledge as Johnny Bacardi. Bacardi and I have similar tastes on several fronts, but his knowledge is amazing. How amazing? I had to interview him in hopes of learning a fraction of what he knows. You’ll note I did not link to his website in this introduction, but only because I could not pick one distinct site. We discuss many of his sites in the course of this email interview, so please follow the links there. And thanks to Bacardi for his time. Did I mention I’m amazed there was any such thing as cable in the 1960s (as he briefly mentions)?
Tim O’Shea: You have a diverse appreciation covering almost every aspect of pop culture, can you recall what your first form of media (TV, film, music, comics or what) that first caught your attention as a kid?
Johnny Bacardi: Hm. Probably a children’s book of some sort, most likely a Little Golden. I remember having an illustrated version of The Night Before Christmas, and another about Beany and Cecil, who were on TV when I was small. My folks subscribed to several magazines, as well as Reader’s Digest. Of course, not long after came comics and music and TV (our small town had cable very early on, in the early-mid 60s- 12 channels, but still!), all at sort of the same time, around 1963 or 64. You see, I could read before I started preschool, as early as age 3. Don’t ask me how, I have no recollection of actually “learning”. I blame comics, with the picture/word association thing going on. This led to a lot of heightened expectations for me, which, sorry to say, I spent most of my formative years failing to live up to.
Remember When Weathermen Did Comedy Ads?
Posted by admin in pop culture on March 18, 2010
If not, be thankful. For Atlanta natives, I give you a flashback to what TV news ads used to be like. Featuring Johnny Beckman as lead funny guy/weatherman. I really need to see if there’s some Guy Sharpe archival footage out there.
Rich Juzwiak on VH1, FourFour Blogs
Posted by admin in episodic TV, pop culture on February 10, 2010
VH1 Blog
I first learned about pop culture blogger Rich Juzwiak while listening to the Frenemies episode of This American Life in which he appeared. From there I started reading his Celebreality coverage on the VH1 blog, as well as his overall pop culture coverage at his own site, FourFour. I recently caught up with him via email to get his perspective on many aspects of pop culture. Juzwiak can also be found here on Twitter. My thanks to Juzwiak for his time and thoughts.
Tim O’Shea: What kind of fortitude do you have to do the in-depth analysis of reality TV like you do on a regular basis–what keeps it interesting for you?
Rich Juzwiak: I think as a culture, we’re all quite taken with ourselves as a culture — there’s a sort of cultural narcissism that goes on with our obsessive need to report about ourselves and then report on that reporting. Bottom line: human beings are fascinating, especially at their behavioral extremes, which reality TV invites.
Remembering My Childhood: Lewis Grizzard
Posted by admin in pop culture on January 6, 2010
I was a kind of an odd kid growing up. When you share a room with your teenage brother, and typically found yourself falling to sleep, hearing him type short stories to submit to the New Yorker–well I doubt most people grew up that way. My brother’s path ultimately led him away from fiction and toward journalism. As a result, I got to tag along with my brother to cover the opening of one of the first MARTA rail stations–among other unique things in my life.
The average kid my age did not have an affinity for reading Lewis Grizzard or listening to his step-brother, Ludlow Porch, on the radio. I did.
Grizzard was a Southern icon for my childhood, he’s part of Atlanta’s past. He died in 1994 at the age of 47. My memory’s faulty, I always assumed he was older than that. To think in a little more than five years I will be the age Grizzard was when he died amazes me.
The mid-1990s is when Atlanta changed for me–and not for the better. The Olympics attracted a great many transplants. The mid-1990s brought a rush hour starting around 5 AM. Old Atlanta, like Lewis Grizzard, is dead. I see glimpses of it, every once and awhile. But rarely. It might be why I like to drive around town late at night, it reminds me of what the city used to be–when I was a kid. Don’t get me wrong, there are many great things about my hometown, that construction and technology and overcrowding cannot kill. And I’m grateful for that.
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