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14 Feb 2010 21:28

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Culture: Southwest Airlines throws off the wrong fat guy: Kevin Smith

  • Hey @SouthwestAir I’ve landed in Burbank. Don’t worry: wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised.
  • Director Kevin Smith • Regarding a harrowing experience where he was booted from a flight because he was too fat, according to the pilot. He later got on another flight, but not before he tweeted about it to his 1.6 million followers on Twitter. The director, who helmed the upcoming Bruce Willis/Tracy Morgan awesomefest CopOut, says he’s not that fat yet. In case you’re wondering, Southwest responded, claiming they’ve had the “persons of size” policy for 25 years now. Our question: Where’s your private jet, Silent Bob? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Feb 2010 20:12

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Culture: James Cameron says some amazing stuff at the TED conference

  • Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own. Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you … failure has to be an option in art and exploration because it’s a leap of faith. In whatever you’re doing, failure is an option, but fear is not.
  • “Avatar” director James Cameron • Giving a pretty awesome speech at the TED2010 conference today. TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, has regular speeches like this. In Cameron’s, he talked about how his desire to explore led him to ideas like “Avatar” and “Titanic.” Part of his exploratory nature has been nurtured by his deep-sea diving. He’s spent 3,000 hours underwater over the last 40 years (and 500 inside of a submarine), which is kind of a lot. A very inspirational speech for sure. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Feb 2010 14:12

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Culture: In Germany, cribbing from books not plagiarism, but a “remix”

  • Obviously, it isn’t completely clean but, for me, it doesn’t change my appraisal of the text. I believe it’s part of the concept of the book.
  • Book critic Volker Weidermann • Regarding the fate of 17-year-old Helene Hegemann’s “Axolotl Roadkill,” a highly-praised German book. The problem with the book? Many passages are apparently plagiarized by another author. However, she claims it wasn’t plagiarism, but a remix of old ideas made new. Despite the controversy brought on by the blogosphere, the Leipzig Book Fair put the book up for a $20,000 prize, knowing about the plagiarism. Kaavya Viswanathan should’ve used that excuse back in 2006. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

11 Feb 2010 10:03

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Culture: Alec Baldwin sent to hospital after pill scare, but really, he’s fine

  • It sounds like his daughter overreacted. Baldwin, the “30 Rock” superdynamo, was sent to the hospital for an hour after his daughter, Ireland (best known as the daughter he famously called a “thoughtless little pig”) called 911. She claimed he was going to take pills. His rep claims it wasn’t really a bad incident at all. “This was a misunderstanding on one person’s part,” said the star’s rep, Matthew Hiltzik. “Alec was quickly released from the hospital, he’s completely fine and will be at work today.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2010 21:39

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Culture: John Mayer says a bunch of stupid crap, apologizes profusely

  • They don’t make rehab centers for being an a-hole.
  • John Mayer • Regarding his over-the-top interview with Playboy, which was something else. Dude talked about his sex life with Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson, used the N-word (which he claims he tried, and failed, to intellectualize in the interview), and compared his penis to white supremacist David Duke. All in all, holy crap. At least he realizes it was a bad idea and is attempting to make amends for it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2010 10:19

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Culture: Not music, just television: MTV symbolically changes its logo

  • What does MTV stand for now? Heaven forfend, but should ‘Jersey Shore’ prove to be so successful that it keeps the network alive for another three decades, will ‘MTV’ only make sense to those of us who know that it used to stand for ‘Music Television’?
  • TV Squad blogger Annie Wu • On perhaps the most painfully obvious change to MTV’s logo. It no longer refers to itself as “Music Television.” This move honestly has been due since about 2000 or so, really, but now it symbolically cements in stone that MTV can no longer go home. Rather than be depressed about it, we’re just going to watch some music videos on YouTube. At least somebody gives us what we want. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2010 10:04

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Culture: The Muppets will make us feel better on a dumpy snowed-in day

  • This spot-on satire of YouTube comments and Diggs is pretty awesome, and it shows the Muppets to be very much “with it” regarding social media. Poor Beaker.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Feb 2010 20:33

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Culture: This number should scare you out of drinking another Coke

  • 87% added risk of pancreatic cancer for pop-drinkers source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2010 14:44

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Culture: Conrad Murray charged in Michael Jackson’s death. Twitter reacts



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2010 10:06

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Culture: Audi’s “Green Police”: A great joke people don’t seem to get

  • The second-best ad on last night’s Super Bowl is a huge talker – an Audi ad that takes the idea of political correctness to a stupidly high degree. Problem is, it hits a little too close to the bone for a lot of people. Why? Because it takes political correctness to a level that many people have suspected already existed for years, whether or not the “green police” really existed. Reason Magazine (who you figure would be all over this) nail the comparison: This is Mike Judge‘s vision of the future. Satire at its best makes you feel most uncomfortable. (The use of Cheap Trick in the ad is also pitch-perfect and completely non-controversial.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 
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