| Trivia Night at Haggin Museum
STOCKTON - The Haggin Museum has teamed up with members of the Pacific Historical Society of University of the Pacific to host an entertaining and educational Trivia Night from 7 to 9 p.m. today. With inspiration from the mid-'90s Nickelodeon game show "Legends of the Hidden Temple," the evening event will challenge teams of players with questions about pre-Columbian culture, pop culture and more. The winning team and other participants will receive prizes. Admission is $5 per person at the door, and free snacks will be provided. Soda, mixed drinks and beer will be available for purchase. For more information, contact Eddie Hargreaves at (209) 940-6312 or info@hagginmuseum.org. .
The Problem With Letting The Government Provide Private-Sector ...
There are many in this country who love the idea of government providing us with certain services that are now provided by the private sector. Health care is a big one, and lately free wi-fi internet access has become another one. Some cities have spent citizens' tax dollars to erect wi-fi systems which blankets the municipality in question with "free" internet. Many (including the writers at the popular technology blog Gizmodo) have cheered the creation of these tax-funded public internet systems, but now that cheering has died off as one of the "free" internet systems in Boston has come up against the problem with all government-managed services: They're run by stupid politicians. Apparently the bureaucrats in Boston have decided that the popular technology/politics/pop culture/cool-stuff-in-general blog Boing Boing isn't fit for public consumption and have decided to block it from being accessed through the city's internet system. Why? Because the blog used a "banned combination phrase." Whatever the hell that rather Orweillian-sounding term means. And if Boston can ban Boing Boing for disallowed "combination phrases" how long until they're banning political sites for, say, "hate speech" (PC-speech for criticism) against Islam? Or criticism against a politician who just happens to be in a position to ban websites on the public system? The point here is that the politicians in Boston have created a public internet system, and now are starting to decide what sort of content the public can access on it. Which might not sound like that big of a deal given that not everybody uses the public system, but when combined with the impact a tax-funded internet system has on the marketplace of internet service providers in general it becomes a huge deal.
Art hits Bottoms at gallery opening
Yeah, that's right. West Oakland at least the strip that was lit up not far from Seventh Street. Some fine-looking folks were out for the official opening of Cornelia Bell's Black Bottom Gallery. The 1018 Pine St. gallery has been open for a while. But Friday was the real deal, the christening of the Victorian-turned-art house planted in the former home of neighborhood matriarch Cornelia Bell. Marcel Diallo and a band of fellow entrepreneurs transformed the old Victorian into a showplace for local artists and an anchor for the Bottoms, as the neighborhood cornered by the West Oakland BART, the frontage road to Interstate 880, Mandela Parkway and 16th Street is locally known. The official name is Prescott. Now, if anyone showed up before 9:30 p.m., they would have been too early.
Broke Gumshoe, Serial Killer, Russian Mobsters: April Mysteries
April 5 (Bloomberg) -- There's something reassuring about a PI with no credit card and a checking-account balance of $12. For Loren D. Estleman's shamus Amos Walker, making his 19th appearance in ``American Detective,'' it's akin to a monk's vow of poverty, or at least a belief in tradition. This time Amos is in the employ of a former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. The onetime star has lost everything to the IRS and is determined not to lose his daughter to the sharpster who, he suspects, has come sniffing around her trust fund. Amos's job is to convince the bum to hit the road. Corpses ensue, not always the ones you'd expect. Part of the fun of ``American Detective'' is casting it in your head: Woody Strode for the faded sports legend; Dorothy Malone for the slinky real-estate agent; and (given the vagaries of casting Asian characters in classic Hollywood) anybody from Gale Sondergaard to Shelly Winters for the dragon lady with her fingers in everything from gambling to smuggling.
VH1 comedian brings quality humor on tour
Christian Finnegan, the recognizable face of sarcastic comedy from VH1's above mentioned all-things-pop-culture show, visits Georgia Hall tonight as part of his "Two for Flinching" tour, courtesy of the University Union.
"Our mission is to bring entertainment acts to the University that appeal to the general student body and that students wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity of seeing on campus," said Union Entertainment Coordinator Matt Slotten. "We hope to appeal to the broadest range of students possible and to bring the highest quality shows to campus as we can."
Quality shouldn't be an issue, as Finnegan's credits and popularity are on a steady rise. Along with his "Best Week Ever" appearances, he also has his own "Comedy Central Presents" stand-up special and is the actor behind "Chad" of Chappelle's Show fame.
Weekend filled with Asian culture, cuisines
Along with a few events starting off GM Week this weekend, there was also a burst of Asian culture that eminated from the Student Union and West Hall to as far as Club Lime. It was the Sixth Annual Asian Awareness Weekend, and a various number of clubs participated to represent their cultures unique characteristics. There were two parts to Asian Awareness Weekend: the Night Market took place on Friday at the Union and Asian Night was held at West Hall on Saturday. The events held were designed to encourage a better understanding of the many Asian cultures that can be found at RPI. The theme for this years AAW was REMIX: Unity through Diversity, which focused on the different cultures and the influences they received from collaborating with each other. Night Market began with a display of Asian culture in the McNeil Room.
Directors' paired pop-culture collage is a joy ride
It's tempting to call what Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez achieve with "Grindhouse" the equivalent of nailing a backward pike with 2½ somersaults in Dumpster diving. For those unfamiliar with the term, to Dumpster dive means plunging into a huge garbage receptacle so you can recycle another man's trash as your own personal treasure. Yes, the source material for this high-concept/ low-art supernova of a film event comes from the exploitation cinema of the late '60s and early '70s. Yet the back-to-back features "Planet Terror" and "Death Proof" actually are more akin to thrift shopping. Separated by a few years, but fed on the same diet of junk and serious cinema, Rodriguez and .
Celebrate Pop Culture and Comics LIVE on Fanboy TV
DALLAS, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/12/07 -- The life and history of pop culture comes to you LIVE, through Fanboy TV Thursday, April 12, 2007, at 7:30-8:30 p.m. CDT in an exciting review of the latest comic books, movies, books, toys and more. Meet the talent and minds behind some of the most popular publications; the show is accessible via Instant Message and phone during the LIVE episodes at www.fanboy.tv. Samax Randolph and Rick Remender are the featured guests for this Thursday's show. Randolph is the artist and writer behind the Champion of Children, Manchild and Dare. Remender's creations include Fear Agent, Strange Girl, Captain Dingleberry, Black Heart Billy and more. Remender has penciled issues of widely acclaimed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and various other comics, and also worked in animation on several movies including The Iron Giant.
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