This Open Thread has a carbon-fiber chassis, goes from 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds, and comes in any color you like, so long as it’s black.
Plenty going on this week: the arrest of former drug dealer Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, who played drug dealer “Snoop” Pearson on The Wire, in connection with drug traffickers in West Baltimore; the opening of Battle: Los Angeles in theaters nationwide; Forbes Magazine declares Sean “Diddy” Combs the wealthiest artist in hip-hop, and the cast of Mad Men make the case for trains.
Comment of the Week: Rob on the show notes for Episode 140: Hulk: Turn Off the Smash:
The Legend of Zelda: Turn Off The Power, But Only While Holding The Reset Button
Could Chris and Snoop save P. Diddy from an alien invasion of L.A.? Or is there something we missed? Sound off in the comments, for this is your … Open Thread.
Am I the only person who thinks that Battle: LA looks like complete rubbish? There doesn’t seem to be a single original thought behind the production, the acting looks sub-par (I’m looking at you Aaron Eckhart) and even the action scenes don’t seem too exciting.And it has Ne-Yo in it, if all that wasn’t enough.
And no mention of the tsunami/earthquake in Japan? I thought open thread covered current events as well as pop culture.
Plus, to be annoying, I’d like to point out the grammar error in the antepenultimate sentence. I’m sure it bugs everyone else as much as it bugs me.
The Open Thread was written and scheduled before tsunami news broke on the East Coast. But that’s what the comment thread’s for – to chat about it here!
So … um … death toll 1000 in Japan?
And even though that 1000 isn’t the final count, there are already jokes about dead Pokemon floating around. Ugh. Jokes have been made “too soon” before, but c’mon, it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, and they’re still counting up the damage, people.*
*And yeah, that’s a generic grumble, not intended at anybody here, unless you’re making those jokes- in which case, don’t tell me.
And how about November this year being declared “Come Play Youth Hockey for Free” month as part of the Let’s Move initiative? I don’t follow hockey, but props to the NHL for doing something so awesome.
And I know I’m spamming (as per usual, weeeeeee!), but in other sports news, the NFL is on hold. Am I the only one disappointed?
The news in Japan is pretty bad, my thoughts go out to the people who are suffering right now. With democratic revolts in the Middle East, tsunamis in the Pacific, and economic depressions galore, it’s a pretty interesting time to be alive.
The NFL thing, to get back to pop-culture-related topics, is an interesting case study in public perception of labor unions and how they work. Take the Wisconsin teachers’ strike and the passage of an anti-union law based on the perception put out in the media that these teachers are living the high life on the taxpayer’s dole, and it’s hard to feel sad for the millionaires versus billionaires of the NFL. But the things the players are fighting for (better care for retirees) clash with the owners’ quest for more money (does an eighteen-game schedule really appeal to anyone?), and it’s important in the sense that this has the potential to dramatically shape the game for years to come. It’ll be interesting to see if certain news organizations that demonized the protestors in Wisconsin take a similar tack with the NFLPA in the long wait to see what, if anything, changes between now and the nominal start of the season. Yes, that was a dig at Fox News.
With regards to public employees and their right to organize, I think there is a misunderstanding, or at least misrepresentation, of how they get paid on the parts of voices against unionization of public employees. By that, I mean the notion that ‘on the taxpayer’s dole’ translates to ‘everybody else pays the salaries of public employees.’ But it isn’t like public employees don’t pay taxes, too. They actually pay their own salaries, in a weird, roundabout way. It’s on their own ‘dole,’ too.
And yeah, it’s pretty shameful that teachers get portrayed as ‘living the high life’ and stuff one minute when earlier they had been portrayed as of high value and great importance to society. Teachers are highly undervalued in reality, and they get depicted like that when a talking head wants a moral high horse to ride on, but they’re villainized the moment they assert their worth. I could ramble more about that, but I’ve already been for a ride on the moral high horse enough for one thread, most likely.
And with respect to the NFL and how it’s rather hypocritically admired, Bill Maher had a good (imo) rant about that just before the Super Bowl (nsfw, language):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb9JMno7g7Y
The earthquake was awful. And you know the authorities can’t let on the full extent of the damage to the nuclear reactors…
In matters of less significance, I am surprised that Diddy’s wealth exceeds Jay-Z’s. Just four years ago, Forbes had Jay-Z valued at more than $500 million, and Diddy at less than $350 million. So much for “anywhere on God’s green earth…”
Does that total for Jay-Z include Beyonce’s wealth? That household’s net worth has GOT to exceed Diddy’s.
It definitely doesn’t include Beyonce’s money – she’s probably got a whole lot too. Earned something like 80 mill a couple years ago. (I don’t think they can handle this…)
But then I also would guess that neither Jay-Z nor Beyonce considers the other’s money their own – they’re self-made and doing fine individually.
Did anyone catch the semifinals of the GSL?
I’d love to discuss all the cheese we saw.
Not directly pop culture, but check this out: http://www.culturomics.org/
A research team worked with Google Books to create a searchable database that shows the frequency of words over books that have been published and scanned. Really interesting results, and you can look at how ideas and people penetrate popular consciousness. My advisor posted the link to the Science paper – very cool stuff!
A gee-wiz awesome trailer for Super 8 dropped on Friday:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/super8/
Somehow I know I’m not the only one excited for this one.
Holy Bill of Rights, Batman! ’90s Nick shows coming back!!!
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/03/10/teennick-goes-retro-with-90s-programming-exclusive/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF_yLodI1CQ