November 29, 2017
The Chameleon
The last game we played at this year’s Will Shortz’s Wonderful World of Words is The Chameleon, created by an English company that has the best name in the biz -- Big Potato. It’s distributed in the U.S. by...
November 27, 2017
In Or Out
Remember the feeling of taking a standardized test and facing a math problem requiring skills you never learned or have long forgotten? Remember the relief when you could eliminate a couple of the possibilities? Better to have a 50-50...
November 22, 2017
Out of Order
How do you get from “Furry Mother” to “Harry Potter?” If you are playing Out of Order, the answer is: usually, one letter at a time. Players are given a category (in this case, “Character”) and a nonsense phrase...
November 20, 2017
Bring Your Own Book
If it’s November, it’s time for Will Shortz’s Wonderful World of Words at the beautiful Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York. And as we do every year, word fanatics from all over the country played four board...
December 16, 2015
Letter Tycoon
Letter Tycoon (from Squirmy Beast and Breaking Games) is the last of the four games we played at Will Shortz’s Wonderful World of Words weekend, and it was a huge hit. The illustrations and graphic design (by Mackenzie Schubert)...
December 15, 2015
Alpha Bandits
Compared to the frenzy of Anomia, our third game, Alpha Bandits (from Wiggity Bang Games), is downright sedate. But beware of sedate games. Just as with people, it’s always the quiet games that you have to watch out for...
December 14, 2015
Anomia
Anomia was the second game we played at this year’s Will Shortz’s Wonderful World of Words (invented by Andrew Innes, published by Anomia Press, and distributed by Everest). Anomia is a simple card game. The cards contain a colored...
January 16, 2015
Word Dominoes
Imagine a word game without letters, one that requires all the verbal dexterity you can muster. Word Dominoes is that game. Game play couldn't be simpler. Each domino contains 2 images. One player places two images next to each other,...
January 13, 2015
Show Me the Kwan
One shining development in the board game world is that toy companies have abandoned the expense and heft of unnecessary boards, not only saving trees but preventing hernias and shelf congestion. Our third word game, Show Me the Kwan,...
December 08, 2014
Schmovie
When I worked at NBC, one of my stranger tasks was to sit in a room with another programmer and come up with titles for theatrical movies that we had bought. These movies had bombed so badly at the...
December 05, 2014
KerFlip!
It's December, so that means the annual Will Shortz's Wonderful World of Words just ended, and once again, we played four terrific word games. We especially enjoy supporting the products of independent game companies, who have seen many toy...
December 09, 2013
Pass-Ack Words
Pass-Ack Words, the third of our highlighted word games, is a variant of Password. In Password, the purpose is to give one-word clues to your partner to get him or her to provide a supplied answer. In Pass-Ack Words,...
July 31, 2013
Google Whiz Visualizes Beach Boy Harmonies
Featuring the vocals-only mix of the Beach Boy's You Still Believe in Me from their masterpiece, Pet Sounds. Here's the original Wired article....
February 25, 2013
Celebrity Heights
It is somehow comforting to know that I am taller than Sting and shorter than Kyle Chandler. How about you?...
January 12, 2013
Pinball Survives
Barely....
December 03, 2012
Mark Evanier's Larry Hagman Story
It may be long, but it is so worth reading....
June 03, 2012
In Honor of Captain Wa Wah
I'm on my way home from my college reunion, and in honor of John Peterson, otherwise known as Captain Wa Wah, here is how I first got to "know" him -- as keyboardist for the Pete Klint Quintet:...
May 23, 2012
Rent a Fake Internet Girlfriend
It's convenient, hassle-free, and an oh-so-reasonable $250 a month. For the basic package....
January 01, 2012
Happy New Year!
[Thanks to Sal Nunziato]...
December 26, 2011
3 Tributes -- 3 Broadcasters
Why do you pay some broadcasters the big bucks? For coming through at the big moments. You can learn a lot about Bob Costas, Keith Olbermann, and David Letterman from their tributes to makeup artist Michele O'Callaghan. There are few...
An Important Phone Call
Call (719) 266-2837 for the antidote to the post-Christmas blues....
December 13, 2011
Louis C.K. on Reddit
If you are a fan of Louie, his FX comedy, or his standup, then you probably already know that Louis C.K. is now offering an original hour of standup via his website for $5. To help promote the concert, Louis...
October 25, 2011
Top-Earning Dead Celebrities
The kings are king....
September 03, 2011
11 Facts You May Not Know About Jerry Lewis
I sure didn't know most of these. [Thanks to Mark Evanier]...
May 30, 2011
Don't You Wish You Lived in Grand Rapids?
May 25, 2011
Planking
April 14, 2011
ABC Cancels One Life To Live and All My Children
The expected ax has fallen. I have some personal reasons for being depressed about these shows biting the dust. I watched both of them from inception, used All My Children as a "text" in my daytime television course, and had...
December 27, 2010
Disneyland Dream
[Thanks to Steve Cohen]...
November 18, 2010
Billy Joel & Howard Stern
Thanks to Bob Lefsetz, of The Lefsetz Letter, for recommending a long radio interview between Joel and Stern. Neither is necessarily my favorite performer, but both are brilliant at their best. What carried me away is Stern's genuine passion and...
October 25, 2010
Muppet Celebrity Lookalikes
[Thanks to List of the Day]...
July 12, 2010
Harvey Pekar, RIP
Cleveland has just suffered a greater loss than Lebron James. The great comics writer, Harvey Pekar, is dead at age 70. Pekar chronicled the lives of working men and women in his beloved Cleveland. Harvey wrote many things besides his...
June 27, 2010
Country Hip-Hop
It's sweeping the country! [Thanks to John DiBartolo]...
May 02, 2010
Timm Gunn Critiques Superhero Costumes
Is Batman Fashion Forward?...
January 24, 2010
Betty White Rocks it at the SAG Awards
She's the Greatest....
January 16, 2010
Pants on the Ground Parts 1 & 2
October 28, 2009
Ray Browne Obit in New York Times
I'm still under the weather, but I wanted to link to a wonderful obit written by Margalit Fox in the New York Times today. If you've read my books, I think you'll have a good idea from this why I...
October 24, 2009
Ray Browne, R.I.P.
You'll notice that the icon on the left categorizes this post as "Pop Culture." The man who coined the expression "Popular Culture," and more important, led the crusade to study and teach popular culture in universities, died Thursday at...
September 02, 2009
Eyewitness Clothes
Who needs Brooks Brothers or Ann Taylor?...
June 19, 2009
Dixie Does Yoga
Watch at your own risk. [Thanks to List of the Day]...
April 12, 2009
Fix Rumer
Among the more obscure blogs I've ever stumbled upon: a site devoted to photoshopping the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore....
April 07, 2009
Celebrity Couple of the Day
[Thanks to Bedazzled]...
March 25, 2009
PopWatch
Continuing Website Week on Imponderables.com, I had to include my current favorite popular culture website: PopWatch, part of Entertainment Weekly's site. Popwatch includes a mix of breaking news, commentary, videos, interviews, and not a few blog entries written by performers,...
March 15, 2009
The First Barbie Commercial
This commercial was made only 50 years ago. It feels like one hundred. [Thanks to Bedazzled]...
March 06, 2009
What If Woody Allen Directed Watchmen?
Dan Kois and Ashley Quigg ponder....
March 02, 2009
Siegried and Roy? Or Siegfried and Mr. X?
Two takes on the mystery of Siegfried and Roy's farewell appearance -- one from the L.A. Times's Richard Abowitz and the veteran columnist of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Norm Clarke....
February 24, 2009
Take That, Coldplay!
The latest musical sensation is Mark Gormley. Here's the essential interview; And his greatest video:...
January 16, 2009
Ricardo Montalban
Even though he died this week, it's still hard to suppress a giggle when the name "Ricardo Montalban" is uttered. But I loved this story from blogger extraordinaire Mark Evanier, which makes Montalban a little more human and a lot...
January 12, 2009
By Popular Demand
The Evolution of Dance Guy is back....
December 04, 2008
Spectacle
I totally expected Elvis Costello's new talk show, Spectacle, to be wonderful. It is. Last night, the show debuted with Elton John as guest, and as I hoped, the discussion was 95% about music. If you want to hear Elton...
October 31, 2008
Easiest Guinness Book of World Records Record to Break?
Gather your extended network and dance! If you want to practice choreography, here you go....
October 29, 2008
Top Earning Dead Celebrities
Who would have thought that Albert Einstein would outearn Marilyn Monroe and John Lennon?...
August 18, 2008
Celebrity Starbucks Orders
Al Sharpton drinks skinny lattes?...
June 17, 2008
I Wanna Love You Tender
[Thanks to Elizabeth Frenchman]...
June 06, 2008
Well, WE Have Family Feud
[Thanks to Christine Beagle]...
May 14, 2008
Ashton Kutcher and the Cougar Effect
Why is Ashton Kutcher's career on the upswing? Maybe because his leading ladies are more mature?...
April 28, 2008
PlayCafe
Want to play trivia against Ken Jennings? You can tonight, at 9:00-11:00 P.M. E.S.T. tonight....
April 24, 2008
David Gest (and Tito Jackson)
Now we see what Liza saw in him....
March 31, 2008
Oddest Book Titles
Shoot. Why Do Pirates Love Parrots? didn't even make the shortlist, let alone win the coveted title....
March 11, 2008
If Celebs Moved to Oklahoma
Warning: It ain't pretty....
February 15, 2008
Stuff White People Like
Lots of stuff. [Thanks to Michael Feldman]...
January 15, 2008
The 7 Most Bizarre Celebrity Blogs
According to Cracked, anyway......
December 29, 2007
Not Exactly Bartlett's
Some of the, er, more interesting celebrity quotes from 2007....
November 20, 2007
Take That, Katie Couric
BBC News readers perform "All That Jazz" from the musical, Chicago....
October 30, 2007
Inside Inside Inside
James Lipton interviews himself and likes what he sees!...
August 11, 2007
Movie Pulchritude Morphing
Beauty through the cinematic era. [Thanks to Mark Evanier]...
August 04, 2007
Don't Wear a Red Shirt!
At least, if you are going to encounter Captain Kirk....
July 30, 2007
Blindfolded Artists
In 1947, Life Magazine asked some of the most famous cartoonists to draw their most famous creations -- blindfolded. A terrific pop culture blog, A Hole in the Head, shares the results. [Thanks to Susan Thomas]...
July 15, 2007
FormatChange.com
Arguably the most important oldies record station in the country, WCBS-FM, switched to the "Jack" format several years ago. Jack was a quasi-alternative format that didn't stick to a particular genre of music, and flattered its listeners with promos indicating...
June 21, 2007
Dion's Song for Paris
Thanks to Artie Wayne....
May 13, 2007
Sonny Bono on Marijuana
via The Smoking Gun...
April 22, 2007
The Best Book Promo Website I've Ever Seen
Miranda July's. [Thanks to Malcolm Mead]...
March 21, 2007
K-Yahoo
This is not a joke. I think....
March 13, 2007
The Evolution of the Geico Caveman
From cave to ABC pilot....
February 28, 2007
The Fugly Women Review the Oscars
Go Fug Yourself is its usual witty self in the annual Oscar rundown. Any description of an outfit that starts with "Even though your skirt looks like an enormous cartoon fish vomiting up its own membranes, we appreciate..." has got...
February 27, 2007
Handcuffed to Hugh
It's not easy being Hugh Grant....
February 15, 2007
You Be the Judge
On YouTube, the commenters are arguing whether this is the best or worst commercial ever. We'll leave the decision up to you, but note in these days of 15-second spots, this one weighs in at a full two-minutes....
February 14, 2007
Larry King -- Movie Critic
Never let misunderstanding get in the way of a blurb....
January 10, 2007
You Know You're in Trouble When...
...your stylist disavows you....
December 25, 2006
My Christmas Gift To You
I come bearing gift. My favorite part of the Christmas season is looking forward to hearing and seeing Darlene Love perform Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)on the David Letterman Show. Here is her brilliant 2004 performance, along with Darlene singing...
December 23, 2006
Stationery Movies
For those who love quizzes. And movies. And stationery....
December 21, 2006
A Very Different Charlie Brown Christmas
Performed by the cast of Scrubs. Warning: Rated R for language and not workplace friendly....
December 20, 2006
Cico
This guy can dance....
November 10, 2006
Dull Men's Club
These are my soulmates. This site revels in National Fig Month (you do know that this is National Fig Month, don't you?). It studies the direction in which carousels around the world rotate. And it includes a book review section...
October 21, 2006
Like Visual Quizzes?
I don't think you'll find any better than Margaret Nissen's at Modesty Panel. [Thanks to Jack Estes]...
September 03, 2006
Our Kind of Spin Doctors
The Museum of Yo-Yo History. [Thanks to Gerry Fifer]...
August 03, 2006
Bedazzled
The amount of video online is staggering, and a trip to YouTube can induce a migraine and overload. So it's always great when someone with an astute sensibility and an archivist's soul filters a part of what's "out there." Such...
July 31, 2006
The Answer Is: Today's Link
The question is: Where can I find the Jeopardy Archive? [Thanks to James Gleick]...
July 24, 2006
Obsessed with Wrestling
I'm not, but I started watching professional wrestling when I was four years old. My grandfather informed me at that tender age that it was "fake," and then proceeded to yell his tonsils out at the grapplers on his black...
July 05, 2006
Celebrities Have To Eat, Too
Even if they are photographed doing so....
June 26, 2006
DDR Master
Actually, he's a Pump It Up master, but he's still worth checking out....
March 12, 2006
The Davie-Brown Index
Advertising agencies and media companies are always looking for ways to quantify what are essentially the qualitative feelings that consumers have about celebrities. Davie-Brown is the latest in an attempt to improve upon Q-ratings (which essentially measure how much name...
February 24, 2006
Chris Bliss
The Beatles, as interpreted by three balls and two hands. Must-see viewing. Click on "The Big Finale." [Thanks to Bobby Lloyd]...
December 30, 2005
Best of Best Ofs
Like year-end best lists? So does this guy....
December 10, 2005
Jersey Boys Soundtrack
I don't have a "theater" category on the blog, because it usually requires a crowbar, a free ticket, and some medication to drag me to a Broadway show. I haven't seen Jersey Boys, the show chronicling the Four Seasons. But...
November 12, 2005
FINALLY, the Cardboard Box Receive Its Props
Who would have thought that corrugated cardboard would be inducted into the Hall of Fame before Pete Rose?...
October 16, 2005
The 62-Pound Hamburger and Other Great Moments in Junk Food
The Junk Food Blog is devoted to chronicling the latest development in arterially-clogging and cavity-inducing foodstuffs. We were sent there by another cool site, Strange New Products, that let us know that the world is no longer without candy corn...
August 31, 2005
The Writing Life
My friend Beth Amos is a terrific suspense and mystery writer, but like many talented novelists, she's had her shares of bumps in the road to commercial success. Her official website is full of tips for aspiring suspense novelists. But...
August 12, 2005
Want To Be Popular?
It never hurts to be dead....
August 10, 2005
Jossip
There are scads of blogs on the web devoted to media news and gossip. I visit too many of them. My latest main squeeze is Jossip. What I like least about it is its snarky tone. It's not as well...
July 25, 2005
Lorenzo Lamas Is Not a Llama
Did you know that Lorenzo Lamas recently cut off his impending fifth wedding? Neither did I. We love this story from The Superficial...
July 23, 2005
You Can't Complain If You Don't Vote
Vote wisely....
June 27, 2005
What's the Deal with Tom Cruise?
Salon is running an informative, non-snarky four-part series about Scientology by James Verini that features the observations of some anonymous but knowledgeable long-term members of the group. The first installment is here....
June 21, 2005
No Redeeming Social Value (Part 2)
A few months ago, I admitted that I was known to frequent a gossip site called The Superficial, which is going as strong as ever. But I surprise even myself, someone with zero interest in fashion, that I find myself...
May 24, 2005
Not On Cruise Control
Oprah Winfrey is a talented broadcaster, and often can be an incisive and tough interviewer, but put her in front of a star and she is horrifying. Yesterday, she engaged in her usual kissfest with Tom Cruise. Of course, T.C....
April 08, 2005
A Piece of Japan
No country's popular culture is wackier than Japan's. There are scads of English-language sites devoted to the quirkiness of Japanese culture. One of our favorites is Syberpunk.com. Browse around, but be sure not to miss the tribute to Oolong, a...
April 02, 2005
Alan Dundes, R.I.P.
With the deaths of Pope John Paul and Terry Schiavo dominating the news, I wanted to acknowledge the passing of one of the great figures of popular culture scholarship -- folklorist Alan Dundes. People often ask me what do you...
March 27, 2005
No Redeeming Social Value (Part 1)
When I'm not researching why pirates wore earrings, or poring over EPA emission standards, I must admit I save a minute or two for checking out websites that offer little but pointed and scathing gossip about celebrities. One of my...
March 23, 2005
Ugly Things
The annual Popular Culture Assn. got off to a smashing start for me with the appearance of Mike Stax, editor of the fanzine,Ugly Things, who has a website of the same name. You got to love folks like Stax who...
February 15, 2005
So You Want To Publish a Book?
I stumbled onto the Everyone Who's Anyone website via a Google link and I couldn't stop reading it. Gerard Jones has assembled a gigantic directory of literary (and Hollywood) agents and editors, along with their email addresses and whatever correspondence...
February 04, 2005
Query Letters
When I worked at NBC-TV, I read more than a few horrendous pitches for television shows. After I left NBC and worked on the proposals for what became my first two books, I did a little consulting and read even...
February 02, 2005
Timing Is Everything
And now is the time to sell Johnny Carson memorabilia....
December 24, 2004
Why Are Bookstores Crowded?
And I thought it was because folks were looking for copies of Do Elephants Jump?...
November 14, 2004
Dayton Allen, R.I.P.
One of my comic idols, Dayton Allen, died last Thursday, a largely forgotten figure. Mark Evanier, who writes one of my favorite blogs in the blogosphere, news from me, posted a wonderful anecdote about Allen. Allen is best known as...
Poltical Colors
In a wonderful, November 13 blog entry, Kevin Drum researches how "blue state" and "red state" went from wonk terms to omnipresent during the 2004 election....
November 12, 2004
Product Placement Run Amok
Now it's in weddings. And in particular, Star Jones's wedding....
November 11, 2004
Film School Finals
My favorite new reality show of the year, Film School, concludes its run tomorrow night (Friday, at 10:30 P.M. on Independent Film Channel). One of the four filmmakers has dropped out of school, and all three of the remaining film...
October 25, 2004
GTA: San Andreas
Tonight, I was walking a few blocks away from my local movie megaplex, and saw a long line of people waiting in line? What movie could possibly attract so many folks on a Monday night? Whoops! The crowd was waiting...
October 15, 2004
Closer? Maybe
How do you choose what movies you see? I know that the movie studios think that stars often drive opening weekend attendance, but I can't think of one actor or actress that compels me to hit the multiplex if I'm...
October 11, 2004
The Long Tail
Are you exasperated by the shallow selection of CDs at the record store? At all the books you can't find at your local Barnes & Noble? In the latest issue ofWired, editor in chief Chris Anderson's article, "The Long Tail,"...
October 03, 2004
Two Guys Sitting Around Talking About Movies
When you think of Sunday morning talk shows, chances are politically oriented programs like Meet the Press or This Week come to mind. I watch a bunch of these public affairs show, along with that wonderful mix of politics and...
October 01, 2004
Bill Ballance (1918-2004)
BIll Balance, a California radio legend, died last Thursday at the age of 85. At the tender age of five, I started listening to him at the advent of Top 40 radio on KFWB-AM, in Los Angeles. Ballance didn't...
September 28, 2004
Come Back, Mr. Potato Head!!!
The end of civilization as we know it....
September 19, 2004
The Company
Today I went to see the documentary, The Corporation, a film about the history and creeping dominance of multinational corporations not only in the West, but in Third World countries. Compared to Michael Moore's screeds, The Corporation is thoughtful and...