Pop Culture Trivia Game

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.

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.

Popular culture conference

Dr. Marty Knepper, professor and chair of English at Morningside College; Stacy Baldus, a senior from Grand Meadow, Minn.; and Rachel N. Castillo, a senior from Sioux City, all presented papers at the national conference of the Popular Culture Association (PCA)/American Culture Association, April 4-7, in Boston." target="_blank"> | Small | Large

Dr. Marty Knepper, professor and chair of English at Morningside College; Stacy Baldus, a senior from Grand Meadow, Minn.; and Rachel N. Castillo, a senior from Sioux City, all presented papers at the national conference of the Popular Culture Association (PCA)/American Culture Association, April 4-7, in Boston.Knepper was chair of the session ''Mystery/Detective Fiction III: Debating the Ending of the Harry Potter Series.'' During the session, Knepper presented ''Reading Harry Potter: Making Predictions for Book 7,'' which included results of surveys conducted with readers, monitored internet chat rooms, and fan fiction as a means to discover predictions for the final book of J.

AOL Announces Slate of Five New Online Shows

Dulles, Va. - As part of a major strategy push toward online video, AOL on Tuesday announced five new Web-based programs that it will produce in partnership with production companies such as Mark Burnett, DreamWorks Animation and Telepictures.The shows, which will launch on AOL in the fall of 2007 and early 2008, will provide another vehicle for the company to sell online ads. "Of the Big Four online networks, AOL is the only one that is doing this kind of major-scale programming," said Randy Falco, AOL's chairman and CEO. The programs include a tie-in with "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," a game show based on serial numbers of U.S. dollar bills, a show featuring online games based on the new "Shrek" movie, a pop culture trivia game and a game show on which contestants vie to win a tropical island.

Microsoft and NAMCO BANDAI create video game history

18 Apr 2007 : Microsoft Corp. and NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. today made video game history by announcing the first-ever Xbox 360™ “Pac-Man" World Championship, presented by Quiznos. From April 25 to May 9, fans of one of the world's most beloved video games of all time will compete on the classic arcade game via Xbox LIVE® Arcade on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, evolving “Pac-Man" gameplay from the local pizza parlors and arcades of the '80s to the Xbox 360 and its online gaming community with more than 6 million members. The top finalists from participating countries around the world will be flown to New York City for the finals on June 5, with the winner being crowned the Xbox 360 “Pac-Man" World Champion by Toru Iwatani, the creator of “Pac-Man."

Since launching in 1980 in Japan and in 1981 around the world, “Pac-Man," its host of ghosts and the famous “wakka wakka wakka" sound have become global pop culture icons.

Students know more politics than pop culture

(U-WIRE) MEDFORD, Mass. - According to a recent study by Tufts University political science professor Kent Portney, Tufts students may be leaving US Weekly at the newsstands and picking up The New York Times instead. The study, which was released in Feburary, found that students are more likely to be knowledgeable about the 2008 presidential race or Social Security reform than Britney Spears' latest marital difficulties.

Entitled "National Survey of Civic and Political Engagement of Young People," the study came to some surprising conclusions.

Not only are young people much more politically informed, the study found, but they know more about relevant politics than they do about popular culture.

"I was very surprised," Portney said. "I expected that students would be not very knowledgeable [about politics], and that they would know a lot more about pop culture."

The study was originally suggested by Tisch College Dean Rob Hollister and donor Jonathan Tisch as a way to measure the effectiveness of Tufts programs designed to increase civic engagement and awareness.