The 85th Academy Awards – Part 2

I am still tired from my 11-hour coverage of the Academy Awards, but so much is still on my mind. The big upset – undoubtedly all the Oscars that went to a little film called Argo that capped off the night with a Best Picture win. Ever since the nominations were announced, pretty much all that has been heard about was how the Academy overlooked Ben Affleck for Best Director while nominating Argo for Best Picture. Many tried to explain that the problem lies in that there were eight films nominated for Best Picture, but the Best Director field only … Continue reading →

The 85th Academy Awards – Part 1

It seems only fitting that my last two Pop Culture blogs for Families will be about the Oscars. If you’ve ever read any of my blogs around this time of year, you know how much I love this ceremony. Yesterday, I turned E! on at 12:30 to begin my pre-Red Carpet coverage and finally turned the television off at 11:30 – 11 hours later. There were a lot of beautiful dresses. Although Jessica Chastain didn’t win Best Actress, she was beautiful from head to toe. Perhaps the Best Actress winner, Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook, should take a cue … Continue reading →

Mercedes-Benz Disses Freemasonry?

Oh, that crazy Super Bowl XLVII! First, Beyonce flashes a little diamond sign and before the game is over, the Internet is abuzz about how she and hubby Jay-Z must be a part of the Illuminati, that secret group trying to rule the world. And, speaking of secret groups trying to rule the world, there was another Super Bowl controversy you may not have heard about. There was a Mercedes-Benz ad, which featured Willem Defoe as a character who appeared to be the devil. I watched the ad and honestly, I paid so little attention that I didn’t even know … Continue reading →

Dave Hester’s Out on ‘Storage Wars’

My 8-year-old loves “Storage Wars,” the A&E reality show that follows around people who bid on storage units being auctioned off for lack of payment by the owners. He wears his fake teeth and calls himself Barry (after Barry Weiss, one of the regulars on the show who wore fake teeth in one episode to “disguise” himself). He also runs around the room yelling “Yuuup,” which is what Dave Hester, another show regular, says when he bids on the storage units. At least Hester used to be a regular. My son will probably be devastated because Hester has been let … Continue reading →

What if O.J. Didn’t Do It?

Surely you remember the ‘90s circus that was the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The infamous white Bronco freeway chase that lasted an hour and a half and was watched by most of America. The glove and Johnnie Cockran’s famous “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” statement. The racist remarks made by LAPD officer Mark Fuhrmann. The acquittal followed by the guilty verdict in the civil suit of the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Then, the book that Simpson wrote titled “If I Did It.” What gall, what arrogance…what…if he didn’t do it? (This image is a … Continue reading →

The Voice of Elmo is Silenced

Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, has resigned from “Sesame Street.” But, it was not entirely voluntarily. (This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.) In case you haven’t been keeping up with the news, Clash has found himself in the middle of not one, but two underage sex scandals. The first case broke a little over a week ago when a 23-year-old man reportedly contacted Sesame Workshop bigwigs with the news that the 52-year-old puppeteer had engaged in a sexual relationship with him when the accuser was only 16. On November 12th, the news came … Continue reading →

Clint Eastwood’s Big Speech

I didn’t watch the Republican National Convention. It’s okay I guess because I won’t watch the Democratic National Convention either. I just don’t care that much for politics. But, my cousin texted me this morning to see what I thought of Clint Eastwood’s speech last night. I told him I hadn’t heard it and he said I needed to check it out on CNN. So, I did. I wasn’t sure what I thought. Well, yes I was. It seemed like a Bob Newhart skit. Little did I know how accurate that was. Later I learned that Bob Newhart tweeted “I … Continue reading →

Ann Curry Leaving “TODAY?”

Rumors are swirling that Ann Curry is leaving “TODAY.” She served as the news anchor on the show from March 1997 until last June then moved into the co-anchor position after Meredith Vieira left. But, ratings are down. “TODAY” once had 780,000 more viewers than “Good Morning America” but in the last year, that has disintegrated to a mere 13,000 viewers in May 2012. It returned to a 332,000 viewer lead during the first week of June, but it seems as if the damage has been done. And, what happens when ratings are down? All eyes turn to the new … Continue reading →

Jack Osbourne Diagnosed with MS

Jack Osbourne, son of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, recently announced that he has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). While I guess there is no time to be diagnosed with an illness like this, this seemed to come at a particularly bad time. Osbourne, like his sister Kelly, had struggled with addiction. But, he cleaned up his act, lost a lot of weight, and recently became a father. His fiancee, Lisa Stelly gave birth to the couple’s daughter Pearl Clementine on April 24th. Osbourne told PEOPLE, “I was just angry and frustrated and kept thinking, ‘Why now? I’ve got a … Continue reading →

Erin Moran Sees Unhappy Days?

About a year ago, I blogged that many of the cast and crew from “Happy Days” was fighting for royalties from the show. Erin Moran (who played Joanie), Don Most (who played Ralph Malph), Marion Ross (who played Mrs. Cunningham), Anson Williams (who played Potsie), and the estate of the late Tom Bosley (who played Mr. Cunningham) feel they deserve payment from merchandise sales related to the show and the characters they played. The lawsuit was actually born when Erin Moran called CBS in 2002 to see how much money she was owed in merchandising royalties because their contracts stated … Continue reading →