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24 Jan 2012 11:24

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Culture: Our four favorite surprises from today’s Oscar nominations

  • one The amazing silent film “The Artist” didn’t top the nomination list — “Hugo” had one more, despite the fact it was shut out of the acting categories.
  • two “The Tree of Life” must’ve confused the Academy: A strange message, “Nominees to be determined,” accompanies its Best Picture nomination.
  • three Maybe not a huge surprise, but Pixar’s “Cars 2” is the first Pixar flick that didn’t get a single nomination for an Oscar. Perhaps it’s because it sucked? Yeah, probably.
  • four And a surprise going the other way: Melissa McCarthy got an acting nomination for “Bridesmaids,” her breakout role. The question is, will she win? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2012 20:48

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Culture: Marketing experts: Paula Deen’s diabetes switch-up a weird branding choice

  • I think it’s completely gross that Paula Deen made $$$ pushing food that makes you sick and will now make $$$ pushing the medication for it.
  • Twitter user @BradWalsh • Discussing TV chef Paula Deen’s decision to announce that she suffers from diabetes — and at the same time using the opportunity to play spokeswoman for a major diabetes drug company, Novo Nordisk AS. Branding experts think this is an poor way to handle the issue. “It’s a big change to expect consumers to buy into,” said Allen Adamson, managing director of branding firm Landor New York. We’re with the branding dude. It’s as if she’s trying to reboot herself because she’s in a corner. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2012 23:58

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Culture: A Beautiful, Bald Barbie? One four-year-old’s doll could inspire line

  • A new inspiring look for Barbie? Genesis Reyes, a four-year-old who lost her hair after receiving treatment for cancer, is getting a one-of-a-kind Barbie: a bald Barbie. “We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, alopecia or trichotillomania,” said Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin, who, after they were inspired by Genesis, built a Facebook page. This kind of Barbie could do quite a bit of emotional therapy for girls going through similar situations. Mattel, however, “doesn’t accept ideas from outside sources,” so we’re not sure yet if this movement will come to fruition. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2012 10:59

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Culture: Girl Scout encourages cookie boycott because the group allows transgenders

  • Looks like someone isn’t getting their “tolerance” badge: This 14-year-old Girl Scout from California is calling for the boycott of her own group for allowing a transgender child to serve as a Girl Scout, which is fairly progressive for the group, but something they only allowed after initially denying the child. Progress comes with resistance, guys; here’s the resistance. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jan 2012 16:11

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Culture: Tim Tebow’s stat line decides to mess with atheists, football fans

  • 3:16 Tim Tebow’s favorite Bible verse, from the book of John (it’s many peoples’ favorite)
  • 316 number of passing yards Tebow had in Sunday’s playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers
  • 31.6 number of yards per completion the noted evangelical had; your mind is blown source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jan 2012 11:01

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Culture: Dear Beyonce, Jay-Z and new baby: You’re angering other parents

  • They just used the hospital like it was their own and nobody else mattered.
  • New father Neil Coulon • Speaking out against Beyonce and Jay-Z’s entourage, because it was preventing him from seeing his own prematurely-born twins. The famous couple, who welcomed Blue Ivy Carter into the family on Saturday night, asked for a strong amount of privacy from Lenox Hill Hospital, forcing the hospital to block off the neonatal intensive care unit and putting a number of other rooms on lockdown. This probably was not the best way for the hospital to handle this situation, to put it lightly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jan 2012 22:01

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Culture: Stephen Hawking turns 70, misses his own birthday speech

Hawking, one of many famous people (Elvis, David Bowie, Kim Jong-Un) to have a birthday today, was recovering from an infection, but pre-recorded the speech ahead of time. He’s turning 70, despite doctors predicting he wouldn’t pass 25. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 Jan 2012 11:11

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Culture: Spider-Man musical’s troubled production history officially pays off

  • then The Spider-Man musical, the costliest musical in history, couldn’t seem to get a break; between accidents, director changes, music-rewriting and the whole nine yards, it’s surprising this cobweb got off the ground.
  • now The musical is well along to recouping its $75 million cost, with ticket sales at $77 million and the show coming off the best week of ticket sales in Broadway history — $2.9 million. That’ll pay for a lot of pyrotechnics, guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jan 2012 02:38

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Culture: No, you can’t buy Girl Scout cookies online. We just checked.

  • New year means a new cookie: Screw resolutions, y’all. The Girl Scouts have a brand new cookie that represents the sweetness of the South. This year, we’ll be able to buy the new Savannah Smiles — potentially even from a smiling girl named Savannah. It’s to commemorate the 100 years that the Girl Scouts have been with us. Don’t worry: even though the lemon/powdered sugar combo is a powerful one, we’ll still be buying twice as many boxes of Thin Mints. Do you have a different favorite flavor? source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2012 14:21

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Culture: Pepsi Co.’s revolting legal defense in Mountain Dew case

  • Don’t do the Dew: An Illinois man is presently suing the Pepsi Company, claiming that as he was enjoying (as much as one is able) some Mountain Dew soda, he spat out a mouthful to reveal a dead mouse. In an effort to acquit themselves of this charge, Pepsi seems to be conceding a reality that strikes us, frankly, as a great deal grosser and more concerning than a mouse happening to get shuffled into the bottling process: they’re saying the mouse would have dissolved in the time it took for the soda to go from bottling to consumption. More specifically, they’re claiming it would have been reduced to a “jelly-like substance.” There are no words. (Photo courtesy of Repoort) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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