| NYU's king of pop culture trivia
As he sung the Goo Goo Dolls' "Name" into the microphone, Andrew Unterberger's khaki pants and light blue T-shirt glowed in the black light of a pink-walled private room in Koreatown's Toto Karaoke. His shaggy, curly brown hair moved with him as he moved with the music, belting out the lyrics.
His friend teased him for his enthusiasm. "This is my soul talking, thank you very much," Unterberger retorted.
Unterberger, a CAS junior majoring in journalism and English, knows where most of the songs played that night landed on the music charts, and when.
"The success of this song has nothing to do with Shaggy's involvement in it," he said as he and his friends prepared to sing "It Wasn't Me." Since his childhood in Pennsylvania, Unterberger has been memorizing pop culture trivia, making lists, and spending long hours watching TV and movies, according to his mother, Alyse Unterberger.
Fans and filmmakers at New York Comic Con
The fringes of pop culture converged at the Javitz Center for the New York Comic Con last weekend, creating a fan-filled orgy of awesomeness. Mainstream celebrity appearances (for example, Stephen Colbert promoting his irreverent cartoon Tek Jansen) were less noteworthy than the sheer celebration of synthesizing imagination with entertainment. .
If I only understood my brain
MINNEAPOLIS - After years of studying the human brain, author Dennis Cass came to appreciate the amazing three-pound rump roast of an organ. Filled with billions of neurons and thousands of nerve cells that crackle with synapses, it creates magnificent beings capable of astounding deeds. Take entertainer Kid Rock. "All this stuff is going on inside Kid Rock at any given time," Cass marveled during a book reading and slide show. "If enough human brains get together, they can make a supercomputer," he said. "Or. ..." Cass clicked to a slide that showed plastic novelty testicles dangling off a pickup truck. "A lot of brains probably went into making these." You might guess by now that Cass is not a doctor or scientist. He is, however, an acute observer of pop culture and Americana, an engaging writer whose peek into his own brain drew from voyeuristic travelogues reminiscent of Plimpton or Steinbeck - kind of a "Travels With my Cerebral Cortex." But shortly after landing a book deal, the 39-year-old Twin Cities resident recognized that subjecting himself to electric shocks, stress tests and brain teasers to see how his head worked was not enough; he was also forced to look at his dysfunctional upbringing and mentally ill stepfather to truly understand whom he had become.
Full Frontal Feminism
In her new book, "Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters," Valenti hopes to pass the political torch to younger women who might feel and act like feminists but be too freaked out to call themselves that. The book is written in a light, sometimes sarcastic tone that aims to make women's rights cool again -- to make feminism a lifestyle as well as a movement. AlterNet spoke with Valenti via telephone. Why was writing this book important to you? It was a natural extension of the stuff I've been doing at Feministing. I've wanted to write something like this for a long time. It was a book I wish I had when I was in high school. So much feminism out there isn't accessible to younger women who aren't in women's studies classes.
Life in our time
EASTER invites us to think of God's goodness in Jesus Christ and to remember and to address our challenges. Life is our greatest gift. We need to continually see that we are making provision for the weakest -- young, old, lonely and suffering. A true society cares for those who need help. We must assist families to nurture their children and give support to families in crisis. Lack of respect for others and lack of time for God are signs of a great yearning that people have for something deep, permanent and loving to fulfil their lives. The grind of work and making financial provision for loved ones sometimes means God is crowded out. Do we really need to have everything, to keep up with the Joneses, when some lack proper housing and food? A welcoming people will always reach out to those less fortunate.
|
