Category Archives: pop culture

by | June 8, 2010 · 3:44 pm

lady gaga’s alejandro video. sex. yawn.

Gaga’s new video for “Alejandro” was released today on the Youtubes, and I just had to watch it. (Me and my roomsies are huuuuuuge fans.) From the very start, let me just say that I get a leeeetle irked with musicians who are so popular they think I want to watch a 9+ minute music video of them lip syncing (“Thriller” excluded, obvi.). Before I go on any more, feast your eyes on this!

This is one of those things where you have to sit back and wonder– is she trying to make a social statement or is she desperately trying to remain culturally relevant by being weird?

First scene: a commentary on gays in the military? Also, she looks like Johnny Depp.  Then there is the usual shocking scene that is sure to get every “pro-family” group (hey, did you see THIS?!) denouncing practically everything, where she simulates sex in nude undies! Yawn, Gaga. It’s been done. Cue the religious symbolism montage! A commentary on the oppression of women in the Catholic church, or a “Like a Virgin” rip-off? COME ON. Annnnnnnd then she is a fembot. Normal. That’s happened before, too. To sum up the rest of the video: sex, sex, gay men, sex, allusions to religion, sex, Gaga trying to have sex with gay men, fembot, obligatory rockstar scene with cool side angles and sun glasses, Gaga ooh la la, machine gun boobs, ambiguous social conflict scenes, sex. Oh, and sex!

I think I have some Gaga-trying-to-shock-me fatigue. But that song sure is catchy. ALE-ALE-JANDRO. ALE-ALE-JANDRO.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | June 8, 2010 · 9:07 am

youtube clip of today: tag team.

CNN wondered, Gawker wondered, and now Six Words wonders: was Barack Obama in the 1993 video for “Whoomp, There It Is?”

Here’s the screenshot that started it all:

Gawker gives a pretty comprehensive pro/con list debating whether our POTUS is a video star:

FOR

  • It really really looks like him!
  • Obama has a well-documented fondness for hip hop. He likes Kanye West and Ludacris.
  • Obama has a history of hip hop cameos. In 2008, reports said he was featured on an upcoming Q-Tip track. Though Q-Tip ended up simply sampling one of his speeches.
  • As one commenter on SomethingAwful noted: The man in the video is playing dominoes with his left hand. BARACK OBAMA IS ALSO LEFT HANDED!
  • The video was released in 1993. Barack would have been around 31 when it was filmed, a year or two out of Harvard Law. Seems like something cool that our coolest, cigarette-smoking, hoops-shooting future president would do as an early 30-something.

AGAINST

  • But, actually, by 1993, Obama was deeply involved in community activism in Chicago. In 1992, Obama famously helped boost voter turnout among blacks through his tireless organizing. How would Obama had the time to film this video? And why the hell would the director of Tag Team’s video seek out a notable community organizer to play a domino player? Maybe they were buddies from Harvard or something.
  • Also, Tag Team is from Atlanta. If Obama wanted to make his rap video debut, wouldn’t he have chosen an early-90s act from his beloved Chicago? Maybe Da Brat, or Crucial Conflict? And he would obviously be wearing a Bulls hat—not a Compton one.
  • Most of these conspiracy theorists base their observation on a low-quality YouTube version of the video. Take a look at this screenshot from a higher-quality video: Doesn’t look much like him, actually. Also: earrings? Obama is cool, but not that cool.

I think I’m going to conclude that it’s him, because that would just be the greatest. But what do you think? Is that our beloved Barry?

Thanks to Wegs for the tip!

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | May 26, 2010 · 11:00 am

six degrees of john mayer’s manhood.

Thank you, GQ, for this brilliant and way too entertaining chart. (Click to enlarge)

I love how it connects Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Remember that?

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | May 24, 2010 · 11:53 am

belated roundup of some google holidays!

Hi guys! GUESS WHAT?! I OFFICIALLY GOT GRADUATED! After three hours of wearing polyester and sitting in the most miserable heat (let’s just say my “friend” who was sitting next to me kept saying things like, “Um, Mallory, the sweat is dripping down your legs. Again.” And I was like, “Want me to wipe it off with my hand and rub it on your face?” And he was like, “Want me to MURDER you?” Stuff like that…), I was given a diploma and partied the weekend away with my parents (who are cooler than me) and my friends (who agree that my parents are cooler than me). Point is, with all of the chaos leading up to the big graduation day, I missed a few Google holidays. Without further ado:

That day’s Google Holiday: 170th Birthday of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Insert some cool facts about ballet here.

What I was Googling: NOTHING, OKAY? I was in a hurry to get a screen shot.

That day’s Google Holiday: Mother’s Day. Yay! We all love mamas, although I also love Anne Lamott, and she wrote a great article on why she (a fellow mama) hates Mother’s Day.

What I was Googling: keep calm love blogs

That day’s Google Holiday: Pac-Man’s 30th Anniversary. This was easily one of Google’s best. It was a real game, and come on, who doesn’t have fond memories of playing Pac-Man at the local pizza shop? (I might be confusing my childhood with the movie version of my childhood, but I did love that game.)

What I was Googling: crumping. Turns out, it’s krumping. Thanks, Google!

And speaking of Google, remember how much I love Google’s predictive feature? Whelp, I stumbled upon another excellent one, and I thought I’d share:

Never fails. Have a good Monday, everyone! (I know you will, because you’ve already said your daily affirmation.)

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | May 24, 2010 · 9:42 am

youtube clip of today: daily affirmation.

Here is your new Monday morning ritual, blog readers!

I can do anything good, I can do anything good better than anyone, yeah yeah yeah.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | May 19, 2010 · 4:41 pm

newest olympic mascots will haunt dreams.

I don’t know why, but people get super excited about the Olympic mascots.  I’ve written about them before— and here I am again. So move over, 1996 Atlanta mascot Izzy.  Move over, Fuwa, the  2008 Beijing mascots. Ladies and Gentlemen, the new Olympic gold medal winners of fug: Wenlock and Mandeville, the official mascots of the 2012 London Olympic games. Feast your eyes on these!

Somebody PLEASE make the first openly gay Olympic mascots joke, so I don't have to.

Yikes! You might be asking yourself, “What the friggity frig are those?” The article from the Guardian does its best to explain:

The pair are based on a short story by children’s author Michael Morpurgo that tells how they were fashioned from droplets of the steel used to build the Olympic stadium.

Droplets of steel, you say? Well, alright. How… abstract.

Maybe it’s because I’m 24 now (wahhhh) and an old lady, but I don’t really understand the necessity for these new-fangled Olympic mascots.  Is the torch not enough for us?  If you think I’m wrong, please let me know.  Maybe I’m the only one that fails to see the value in a duo of one-eyed, flippered, Nickelodeon-show-reject, don’t-look-if-you-have-epilepsy monstrosities.

Consider your dreams haunted, readership! You’re welcome!

In other news, guess what? Today is Wednesday, which means tomorrow is Thursday, and that’s the day before Friday! Huzzah!

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | May 12, 2010 · 11:06 am

youtube clip of today: boy gaga.

I came across this video while creeping around the internet late last night and I was more than impressed.  I’m not the only one, our delightful friend over at Art of the Record thought so too. Don’t be fooled by his Bieber hair, this kid is AWESOME. He’s better than the Biebs. His Youtube name is greyson97 (wait… was he born in 1997?! Oh my god.). Somebody get this kid a record contract!

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | May 11, 2010 · 2:03 pm

from the creator of the smize…

Before we begin this post, an important statement from your favorite SWTCTW bloggers: “As of Tuesday, May 11, your fearless bloggers now prefer to be referred to as “intoxibellas”, for so many reasons. We will not answer to anything else. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.  Thank you.”

The world as we know it changed today with the announcement of Tyra Banks’ new project, appropriately titled Bankable Books.  Professional smizer TyTy, who claims to be an avid fan of fantasy novels and says she shakes when she enters bookstores, has written (read: paid someone to ghost write) a new series of books that will whisk us away in to a magical land. I cannot even begin to explain… it’s better to post what she wrote.

The story happens in a make-believe place called Modelland – every girl in the world wants to go there because it’s where “Intoxibellas” are trained.  Intoxibellas are drop-dead beautiful, kick-butt fierce and, yeah, maybe they have some powers too.  (But I’m confirming NOTHING! Ha. You gotta wait for the book.)  The story follows a teen girl and her friends who find themselves magically transported to Modelland, even though they’re really not supposed to be there. (Okay, now, that’s ALL I’m saying!)

Modelland has always been a part of my mind and my heart.  As you might know, I step into a bookstore and I shake (really!) because I love books so much.  Ever since I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to pick up a new book and see what worlds the writers had created for me. I especially loved books with strong girls and women – you know, girls with guts, smarts and attitude – and then one day it came to me… MODELLAND!   I’m getting it ready for you through my new division called Bankable Books and now I’m shaking for a different reason…  I’m excited that you’ll be able to read about this magical world that’s been living in my dreams for so many years.

Ahem. That explains so much. Clever points for the name… Modelland (in case you were wondering, it’s pronounced like Model Land) must have been a real stretch!  Secondly, “intoxibellas” sounds like it could be Italian for “drunk girls”. Perhaps it is.  Is it, Mal? Gah, I don’t have all day so I’m going to stop before I really get going. Please share your thoughts on this in the comments section.  You owe it to the world.

I just hope the folks on the Nobel panel are taking notice of this literary contribution.

[Posted by Intoxibella]

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by | April 23, 2010 · 2:27 pm

youtube clip of today: youtube’s first.

Hey folks, ever lie in bed at night wondering what the first video EVER to be put on the YouTubes was?  No, really, have you? Well, here is your answer.  Five years ago today, Jawed Karim, one of YouTube’s founders, posted this video of himself at the San Diego Zoo.  Thanks, Jawed, for starting one of the most entertaining outlets for people to publicly embarrass themselves… or, even more likely, embarrass their friends. A tip of the hat to you, sir!  PS- Your video? BOOOOOOOOOOOORING.

Okay. So the video is pretty lame and I try to bring you entertaining yooootoooobs to make the work day go by a little faster. Here’s something cooler:

It’s not a trick, it’s an ILLUSION! Two points if you get the reference.

And on that note, I hope the next 2.5 hours fly by for you all!

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | April 21, 2010 · 10:54 am

some friendly advice for tiger woods.

During my morning news perusal, I came across a story on the HuffPo about Tiger Woods. First of all, I am SO OVER the Tiger Woods story, but this headline caught my eye: Tiger Woods Parties at Nickelback Concert in Orlando.

Which made me actually exclaim out loud, “does that man have a publicist?!”

Tiger, here’s a little free advice.  If you want to rehab your image and not look like a huge d-bag, going to a Nickelback concert is not the way to go about it. It’s like Jon Gosselin wearing Ed Hardy and trying to rock a faux-hawk. You. Look. Bad.

Take your kids to a Wiggles concert. Move back to your hometown to “rediscover your roots”. Open up a golf course specifically for underprivileged children.

But please, Tiger, stay away from Nickelback. It’s for your own good. Trust me.

xoxo,

k

[Posted by Kathleen]

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