Today In Pop Culture: The Beatles Invade New York
Published on February 8th, 2016 in: Music, Today In Pop Culture |
It’s difficult to write about anything that ends with the word, “Mania.” Look at how Hulkamania ended, with Hulk Hogan in court and releasing sex tapes and whatnot. And I would love to write about last year’s WrestleMania, but that whole Terminator: Genisys tie-in was so atrocious, even the memories of it burn like a lye bath.
Let’s talk about Beatlemania instead, which really began in America today in 1964, when the Beatles landed in New York for a short tour and two television appearances.
Today In Pop Culture: The Birth Of United Artists
Published on February 5th, 2016 in: Movies, Today In Pop Culture, TV |
Movie studios are often thought of as being owned by faceless bastards, money men, and committees. The reason for that is because it’s true. That is how most studios are. There was a time when some folks set out to change that.
Today In Pop Culture: The Breaking Of Patty Hearst
Published on February 4th, 2016 in: Culture Shock, Today In Pop Culture, True Crime |
How nice it must be, we think, to come from money. Old money. The kind of money you don’t even realize you have because you’ve had it for so long. Money you didn’t earn. You’re going along, living your life, rich as balls, going to a liberal arts college and wearing sweaters when you don’t have to because you’re rich, and why not?
Then it all comes crashing down, and the next thing you know, you’re wanted for bank robbery.
Today In Pop Culture: The Day The Music Died
Published on February 3rd, 2016 in: Eulogy, Music, Today In Pop Culture |
Dear rock and roll musicians:
Please stop using air travel.
Thanks,
Everybody
This is The Day The Music Died.
Today In Pop Culture: I’m Not Saying It Was A Yeti, But…
Published on February 2nd, 2016 in: Today In Pop Culture, True Crime |
Today in Pop Culture, a hike in the snowy mountains turned deadly for nine hikers in the Soviet Union. The cause of their death has never been determined. If it has, the Russian government has never released it. All they will say is that something killed those mountaineers. You’ll hear all kinds of conspiracy theories about what murdered those people, cockamamie theories from one side of the Internet to the other.
Come on.
We all know the Yeti got them.
Today In Pop Culture: Polanski Runs For The Border
Published on February 1st, 2016 in: Today In Pop Culture, True Crime |
TRIGGER WARNING: DESCRIPTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
You don’t often think about people fleeing the country unless its wartime, and there’s a flood of refugees hitting the shores. But sometimes, people get the hell out of Dodge because they’ve done something horribly wrong and want to avoid going to the hoosegow.
It’s even weirder when the person fleeing is an internationally known film director.
Today in Pop Culture: Sing Along with History, Volume Two
Published on January 29th, 2016 in: Music, Music Festivals, Today In Pop Culture |
One thing I’ve learned from writing this column is that history, even something as seemingly fluffy as pop culture history, consists mostly of death. It’s depressing. Factual, but depressing as hell. Sometimes, you’ve got to get silly, especially on a Friday.
Can I get a witness?
I think it’s time for another singalong.
Today In Pop Culture: The Challenge Of Charles Starkweather
Published on January 28th, 2016 in: Today In Pop Culture |
While it is proper to acknowledge that this is the 30th anniversary of the explosion of the space shuttle, Challenger, it is also safe to say that the nation will be inundated with those painful memories today. There are other things to remember on this date, though, and they aren’t as glorified and politicized. The paths of glory are many, and we are all on our own road through history.
Today In Pop Culture: The Movie Ratings System and Why We Should Kill It
Published on January 27th, 2016 in: Culture Shock, Movies, Today In Pop Culture |
The way we rate movies in America is confusing and arbitrary at best. The stranglehold the Motion Picture Association of America has over artists and the way they present their art is unconscionable. It is an outdated, lopsided system which falls apart when you apply even the least amount of thought to it.
Today In Pop Culture: Putting The Screws To The Twist
Published on January 26th, 2016 in: Dancing Ourselves Into The Tomb, Music, Today In Pop Culture |
There may not be any expression of emotion purer than the act of dance. Whether it is a formal kind of dance, like ballet, or a child dancing awkwardly in circles for no reason than being alive, the act of dancing wells up from inside and explodes in a flurry of limbs and happiness. Obviously, the best thing to do with something like a dance is ban it, right?
The year was 1962, and the Catholic Diocese in Buffalo, New York, decided to ban the Twist from all Catholic schools in America.