Blogs bring the funny

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Funny. Celebrity. Video blog. Hollywood types entertain us on screen – and sometimes unintentionally off screen in certain circumstances – but many have taken to the Internet to give us even more of their creativity. Which is why I hope you caught Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog” mini-movie when it was available for free streaming in July. If not, you can always download it on iTunes, but the “Buffy” creator gave us Neil Patrick Harris as a lovable supervillain, Nathan Fillion as his heroically smarmy foil (and obstacle to true love) and a work that proves word of mouth still rules on the web.

Love it? Then you’ll want to download the delightful and sometimes touching soundtrack off iTunes. (For those who live offline, there will be a CD and a DVD as well. But where’s the fun in that?)

Along the same lines, but much more viral and varying, is Funny or Die, a video-sharing site started by Will Ferrell’s production company. The site blew up with Ferrell and director pal Adam McKay’s “The Landlord,” starring the twosome and a potty-mouthed tyke. Now, it’s a place that hosts amateur brilliance from people just like you and me (only a lot funnier), gives them social networking and offers picks from Ferrell, McKay and new comedy juggernaut Judd Apatow. I especially like this one, where a bunch of people have placed themselves in the movie “Teen Wolf” – and actually made it a lot better than it ever was back in the day.

Apatow’s recent work only continues what Kevin Smith’s movies started in the ‘90s with “Clerks” and “Mallrats.” Silent Bob himself has gotten into the game with his SModcasts, paired with longtime producer/straight man/friend Scott Mosier. Each week, they riff on a host of topics, have been known to drop into faux German accents and play up movies that have gotten a bad rap. (We are talking about a pair of guys who did a “fan” commentary for a DVD release of “Road House.”) In short, they’re much like Smith’s flicks – hugely entertaining, with lots of male bonding, foul language and quippy repartee. Plus, you can subscribe to SModcasts on iTunes or Feedburner, or just simply download from the site.

What’s your favorite celebrity blog, video or otherwise? Make your voice known in the comments section or e-mail links and such to novapoppin@gmail.com.

Here is your video of the week, featuring some local celebrities and the hilarity that ensues when pro football players sit down for their fantasy football draft (hey kids, put on the earmuffs when you hear the saucy language!):

Baracktimus Prime: More than meets the vote

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, August 14th, 2008

Happy Thursday! To start off today’s sprinkle of Pop-pourri, a reminder: Keep those suggestions and comments coming! This is the place to sound off on what you like, what you don’t like, what you’ve been dying to tell members of the NoVa Pop Nation such as yourself and sound off on anything you want. Last week, we had a reader swoon over the thought of a Jason Taylor jersey (or perhaps the thought of Jason Taylor IN a jersey) and another point out this interesting article about IMAX. (By the way, if you haven’t seen “The Dark Knight” in the IMAX theater over at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, what are you waiting for? Tis mindblowing indeed). Keep all the thoughts and ideas coming at novapoppin@gmail.com.

These days, politics and geek culture are two of the biggest things around. So why not combine both your loves! I’m gonna get this shirt real soon – perhaps even rock it on Election Day. It features a mash-up of my chosen candidate and my favorite Transformer. BOOSH! Can’t go wrong there. Also, if you’re more of a Peanuts fan, you might be down with the new “Peanuts Rock the Vote!” campaign. (In Virginia, Snoopy is winning by a landslide, although I’m leaning toward Linus. C’mon, he has a blanket – that just screams strong national security.)

It was a week ago that Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets. The only people more irked by this than Green Bay Packer fans? EA Sports, since the cover of the company’s latest and greatest video game, “Madden NFL ‘09,” was slated to have Favre, in full Packer regalia, as the cover boy when it hit stores on Tuesday. Doh! Well, it’s not like they could stop millions of video games from being released, but the company rolled out the damage control team quickly. If you’re too anal retentive to deal with your game having an “inaccurate” cover, EA’s official “Madden” site has a PDF you can download of packaging with Favre in majestic Jets green. Just slip it in the case and – voila! – it’s like you just made the trade yourself. As for the game, online players can get a roster download that positions him as the Jets starting quarterback – no word yet if Chad Pennington is then released and goes off crying in the fetal position before he’s signed to your game’s version of the Miami Dolphins. And for those not online, Favre is in the “NFL Greats” section in Franchise mode, so throw him into the free agent pool and pick him up for any of the 32 NFL teams. That said, I’m still sticking with Jason Campbell for my Redskins team. Maybe I’ll toss Favre on the Cowboys so he can start dating Jessica Simpson…

To keep with the sports theme – and because I forgot to post it yesterday – here’s the video of the week, an oldie but goodie:

Eat a Pac-Man cookie while watching old Buffy eps online

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

Web Wednesday means there are websites to be had. So let’s get to it with a link that combines video-game nerditude and sugary wares. Snack or Die has multitudes of recipes for baked goods that span the gamer gamut, from “Tetris PopTarts” and “Burgertime Cookie Burgers” to “Half-Life Biscuits” and “Wii Remote Banana Bars.” Nintendo and other old-school game franchises are well-represented in this sweet collection – the “Koopa Shell Cookies” and “Goomba Cupcakes” look particularly yummy, and the “Pac-Man Sugar Cookies” are simply classic. Feel free to indulge – just spend a few extra minutes on your “Wii Fit.” (Thanks to Laura, my fellow Tar Heel, for the tip!)

It’s still in private beta testing, but JamLegend looks like it could be the next big online thing for “Guitar Hero” lovers and “Rock Band” fans. In addition to the rhythmic gaming that will no doubt suck hours away from your free time, the site allows for unlimited music coming in from any and all up-and-coming artists (free promotion!), social networking that the kids love and lots of multiplayer features, so you can get your hiney handed to you from some fast-fingered 5-year-old halfway across the country. Sign up now to get in line for the beta testing, and check out the trailer here. (Tip of the hat to Warren for the scoop!)

Another site that’s in beta mode is The WB’s video-on-demand site. I admit, the old WB and the new CW had/have some of my favorite shows on TV, and this site will feature many full episodes from series such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Smallville,” “Gilmore Girls,” “The O.C.,” “Friends” and “One Tree Hill” (true confession: I got hooked on the first season of “OTH” one night, watched nine straight hours and was never the same again). Even better, there are also plans for original content from TV gurus such as McG and Josh Schwartz as well as a number of other web-only shows – a sorority mystery, a rock-club soap opera, an unscripted series about a big-budget high school musical and more – as well as a Facebook application to bring the WB to your own neck of cyber-society. (Props to Warren yet again!)

Photojojo is a photographer’s dream, with tips, how-to sections and scads of projects. One of those is Project 365. The gist is you take a picture every day for a whole year, even when you don’t feel like it, and then look back and see the resulting photo album. You’ll learn a lot about yourself, and improve your photography skills to boot! The site also hosts the very neat Photo Time Capsule where it synchs your email and Flickr accounts, and twice a month will send you photos from a year ago in an email. (That’s a hat trick for Warren!)

If you’ve got a great website to share with NoVa Pop Nation, send the link to novapoppin@gmail.com.

Of jocks and band geeks

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, August 7th, 2008

It’s almost the end of the first week of NoVa Pop! Today is the premiere of Pop-pourri, where I want you – yes, you, Mr. I’m Pretending to Work But Reading This Awesome Blog – to be very much involved. I want y’all to feel like this is your forum, too, where you can suggest things and get info and make it all organic and such. So ask questions, make suggestions, tell us what you want other NoVa Poppers to know and we’ll post ‘em in Pop-pourri on Thursdays. The email is novapoppin@gmail.com – learn it, love it, become one with it.

The great thing about the world of pop culture is the amount of STUFF there is. Especially to buy. So today, let’s look at a couple things you can purchase – and something you won’t want to miss at your local theater tonight.

The week’s leading sports story has been obvious: the ongoing soap opera of one Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers quarterback who’s like a broken thermostat when it comes to retirement. Well, this just in: He ain’t a Packer anymore. (I wonder if he caused this much drama on the set of “There’s Something About Mary.”) Late last night, he was traded to the New York Jets, and they must have had their marketing crew working overtime because within an hour after the trade, a No. 4 Favre Jets jersey was available online. If you’re a Jets superfan, or you just want to stick it to your Packer-loving ex, go get yourself one here. More locally, another recently traded, future Hall of Famer has his new jersey available, too: Redskins defensive lineman – and ballroom dancer – Jason Taylor. Go get yours at one of the Redskins stores in the area – such as Dulles Town Center or Fair Oaks Mall – or hit the Skins’ online store. (Also this season, profits from any Sean Taylor merchandise sold online or in stores will be donated to the Sean Taylor Memorial Trust Fund.)

Based in Fairfax, ThinkGeek is the one-stop shop for most any pop-culture nerd. They have some great “Star Wars” shirts, such as this Marc Ecko-inspired top I’ve been known to rock once or thrice, but perhaps the cutest items in their catalog is their series of plush microbes. At 8 bucks each, you can get your own cuddly version of the Plague, toxic mold, chicken pox, malaria and other, nastier viruses and diseases. Or give your loved one the flu. It’s all good!

I admit it: I was a TOTAL band geek back in the day, marching tuba when I was in high school at Jefferson and then at UNC. And one of the things I always meant to do was join a drum corps – in other words, a “professional” marching band without flutes, clarinets and saxophones, made up mostly of college kids. Well, it’s time again for all local band geeks to unite – at the movie theater! Drum Corps International is having its annual championships this weekend in Indiana, and they’ll be showing the top 15 corps at theaters all over the area tonight at 6 p.m. Check out “DCI 2008: Big, Loud & Live 5″ at the following cinemas: AMC Hoffman 22 (Alexandria), Ballston Commons 12 (Arlington), Fairfax Towne Center (Fairfax), AMC Tysons Corner 16 (McLean) and Lee Highway Multiplex (Merrifield). You can buy your tickets online for $18 – which is a pretty good deal for more than five hours of musical motion. The uncannily precise Cavaliers and classically bombastic Phantom Regiment will be favorites going in, but you can’t count out the uber-cool defending champs, the Blue Devils. (They’re like the Tom Brady of drum corps.) In case you still have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a taste of what you’ll see:

Where on the Web for Videos and Teen Girl Squad

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Web Wednesday is here and I’ve got some cool and sometimes quirky web sites for y’all to check out. If any of you loyal NoVa Poppers run across a great viral video or a site that left you on the floor (or, in cyber-speak, made you ROFL), send the link to novapoppin@gmail.com. I’m always looking for something to keep me entertained through the day, and this way, we can share it with fellow readers. Everybody wins!

Speaking of videos, keeping YouTube, Hulu, Veoh and all these other sites straight takes a good amount of time. Well, consider yourself freed up – from flash video games to online movies, OVGuide keeps it all organized! There are more than 2,100 sites on the guide, widgets keep you apprised of what’s buzzworthy and what people are watching, and offers a comprehensive search engine. For video mavens, it’s a must-favorite on your browser.

MTV.com has the new trailer here for the comedy “Role Models,” starring Seann William Scott (where the heck has he been?), the always-funny Paul Rudd and McLovin himself, Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Energy drink reps sign up for a Big Brother program – I think you can figure out the hilarity from there. The flick opens Nov. 14.

If you don’t know of “Teen Girl Squad,” go here now. Seriously. I’ll wait. From the dudes who brought you Homestar Runner and the charismatic Lucha Libre email guru Strong Bad, these very crude drawings of high school angst are priceless. The latest episode finds our four heroines studying for finals (“Hyper Fill in the Blank Barrage” was always my weakness, too) and trying to win boys on Yearbook Day. WOOT!

Premiering Sept. 7, HBO’s new series “True Blood” chronicles vampires down yonder in Louisiana and is based on the works of Charlaine Harris. The official site has new pages of a prequel comic book up every Wednesday, a store where you can get shirts and whatnot, and such other viral goodness as a vampire news site and a human/vampire dating service.

If you haven’t heard, there’s this little thing called the Olympics starting Friday. And sure, there’s about 147 trabillion cable channels that will be showing coverage of the events, but most will be taped (since the Summer Games are going on in China, and not around these parts). Thankfully, NBC is here to give us 2,200 hours of streaming broadband international sportage here. You know, if you can’t wait for all that exhaustive dressage coverage.

And here’s the video of the week, courtesy of well-dressed British funnyman Eddie Izzard: