'Twas the Night Before Solstice/Christmas — Pop Culture Family Version

Note: Yes, I realize it is after the winter solstice and almost the night before Christmas. But I prefer the solstice. So substitute it for Christmas in your own heads, if you must.

'Twas the night before Solstice in the Pop Culture House,
and Mama's still shopping with the click of a mouse.
The stockings are still in the storage all boxed;
The only house without lights for three blocks.
The kiddos were avoiding going along to their beds,
Throwing popcorn around, putting food on their heads.
The hubs with his coffee, and I with my wine
were handling all of the chaos just fine.

From the front of our house, went a crash and a bang
I was sure that the girls had broken something.
I ran to the study to issue my wrath,
I'm sure I looked crazy as I let out a gasp.
Right there on our porch and blocking the doors
were dozens of boxes from our favorite stores
"What the heck did you order?????" asked Pop Culture Dad,
Sounding a bit more amused than was mad.
But who was our Secret Santa this night?
I looked for a delivery truck, no FedEx in sight.
And no UPS or U.S. Postal Service.
The silent cul-de-sac was making me nervous.

"There's Amazon and Target and Ulta and Frye's
and Banana Republic and even Best Buy!
Wait! Barnes & Noble and Carter's and Macy's!
And Baby Naarjtie! Honey, this is crazy!"
My poor husband apprised me with a rise of the brow
I had to think of an explanation, like, NOW.
"Sweetie, I swear. I did not buy all this!
Did you check the slips? Surely these are gifts.
I've been curbing my shopping—the recession, you know.
I only got gifts for our friends and my bro...
Oh! And our parents... and... your fam... and the girls."
My face went crestfallen as my story unfurled.
"Okay, so maybe I have a slight shopping problem;
But there's no way I'd bought this and then just forgotten!"
My love raised his eyebrows and gave me "the look"
Until he noticed that one box was a Nook.
"Is that a tablet for me?", he asked looking smug.
"Dunno. Check the box." I said, giving a shrug.
He tore open a box, looked for the packing slips,
then a saw a sly smile appear on his lips.
"Never mind. Carry on!", he said looking suspicious.
It was at this point, he began piquing my interests.
I tore open a box to determine who sent them.
Now it was my turn to start questioning him.
I wasn't going crazy and oddly I was glad
that half of the gifts were from Pop Culture Dad!
I'm not the only big shopper in our awesome pair.
In fact, I would argue that he lapped me this year.

I threw my arms 'round my handsome hubby' neck,
got up on my tiptoes and gave him a peck.
"I love that we sometimes are of one mind.
Now stop teasing me! My shopping's just fine!"

Sometimes you know when your partner's just right.
Happy holidays to all, and to all a good night!


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How I Met Your Mother — The Last Page

SPOILER ALERT: Honestly, this should go without saying. The episode aired four days ago. If you have not watched it yet, but are clicking on links to anything discussing that episode, then you kinda asked to be spoiled, did you not? But in the interest of not having to moderate a ton of "OMG! I can't believe you soiled it without warning us!" comments, here is your obligatory spoiler alert.

Show of hands: Who's still crying happy tears thinking about this episode?

Monday night's How I Met Your Mother—the greatest moment in HIMYM history or the greatest proposal on television of all time? Discuss amongst yourselves. I am not here for a recap. That has already been done beautifully in a plethora of other places [a side-effect of my originally-written post from Tuesday morning being deleted by my iPad app... But that's another story for another day....]. I'm going right to the meat and potatoes: the proposal.



Look, we all knew it was going to happen. The season opened with Robin and Barney's wedding day. We knew a proposal was going to happen and it was going to have to happen soon. I will admit, however, the Patrice thing threw me off. I had just assumed that the Patrice relationship would drag out and that Robin and Barney would somehow plan a quick trip down the aisle shortly after Barney cured whatever illness made him go after Patrice. Pop Culture Dad is more perceptive than me, however. As I mentioned Monday night on the Facebook page, he totally called the ending halfway into the show. Okay, okay, he didn't predict the whole thing. Even he is not that good.

Seriously, Thomas and Bays deserve Emmys for the carefully-crafted season that led up to this amazing proposal [and, while we're at it, let's throw in some nominations for Smulders and my secret BF Harris, too, m'kay?]. Just look at all the pieces that went into "The Robin" and think about how this entire maddening season was worked to lead to this one moment. And while you're at it, think about how the relationships of the characters have been built from Day One to make this even remotely plausible.

"The Robin" — The Last Play Barney Will Ever Need (Awwwww....)

• Step 1: Admit to yourself you still have feelings for this girl: “I am hopelessly, irretrievably in love with her. More than she knows.”
{sigh....}

• Step 2: Choose the completely wrong moment to make a drunken move after hanging out at a strip club. And get shot down on purpose.

• Step 3: Agree that you two don’t work, locking the door on any future you could have together, “I’m done trying to get you. I can’t do it anymore,” which will drive Robin nuts.

• Step 4: Robin goes nuts.

• Step 5: Find the person who annoys Robin most in the world and ask for her help. Explain everything to Patrice and hope she agrees to help.
{totally didn't see that coming}


• Step 6: Check with your doctor about possible broken ribs. [insert visual of Patrice squeezing the life out of poor Barnacle]

• Step 7: Pretend to be dating Patrice.
{it all makes sense now}

• Step 8: Wait until Robin inevitably breaks into your place to find The Playbook and show it to Patrice, which you’ll monitor via the hidden cameras you have in your apartment.

• Step 9: After Patrice finds The Playbook, have your first big fight.
{This was pretty funny, watching Barney and Patrice on the balcony looking and gesturing like they were angry, but actually saying things like, "Thank you so much for helping me!}

• Step 10: Prove your loyalty to Patrice by burning The Playbook. And actually burn it. You don’t need it anymore.
{I started tearing up just a little bit here}

• Step 11: Because your friends have no boundaries, they’ll inevitably have an intervention for Robin, which you’ll monitor via the hidden cameras you have in Marshall and Lily’s apartment.
{The perfect representation of how well these friends all know each other}

• Step 12: Tell only Ted about your plan to propose to Patrice.

• Step 13: Wait and see if Ted tells Robin, and if he does, it means your best bro in the world has let go of Robin and has given you his blessing.
{And... Cue more tears. Think about this. Really think about it. It speaks volumes to the relationship between Ted and Barney. Without Ted's blessing, none of this was moving forward. And Barney loves Ted so much that he was willing to leave the whole thing in his hands. This, to me, is almost better than the relationship between Barney and Robin, which I love}

• Step 14: Robin arrives at her favorite spot in the city and finds the secret final page of The Playbook, the last play you’ll ever run.
{and more tears...}

• Step 15: Robin realizes she’s standing underneath mistletoe.



Now, of course, we reach the part where Robin is understandably peeved at the level to which Barney tricked her, until he implores her to flip the page over and read the last step...

• Step 16: Hope she says yes. [As Robin lowers the page, there is Barney with the ring on blended knee]

{Game OVER, folks! Even my hubby, a former fan who has made fun of this show for the last season, couldn't hold it together any more. With tears in his eyes, Pop Culture Dad said to me, "Well... That was pretty moving."}

Huffington Post has a video of the proposal (but not the voiceover of Barney reading the steps) here.

This episode got me thinking about my own proposal this morning. There was once a reality show following men around as they were about to propose, which proclaimed that while the wedding is the most important day of the bride's life, the proposal is the most important day of the groom's. That certainly has some truth to it (though I would argue that for couples who have children the births of their children are actually the most important days of both lives, but I digress...). I cannot imagine how stressful the proposal is for most men... you know, the ones who decide to do something monumental instead of just posting something on Twitter. And when the proposal hinges on everything just going right.... Sigh...

Poor Pop Culture Dad. While we both love my engagement story now, he was a total wreck at the time. We were already living together, and he had the engagement planned for a couple of months. He arranged to have lunch with my dad to ask for my hand, and that's when the first part of his plan went wrong... My dad has a big mouth. My dad called me at work an asked why in the world my boyfriend would want to go to lunch with him, were we trying to get married or something? Really, Daddy?? I remember muttering something to him like, "I don't think you were supposed to tell me about that." One of my friends and I tried to come up with other reasons my then-boyfriend may have arranged this secret meeting with my dad. My 30th birthday was coming up. Maybe this was related to my party. Maybe they were planning something bigger than the Hello Kitty and karaoke I had requested? I chose to go with that theory rather than get my hopes up.

Then the day Pop Culture Dad and my dad were supposed to meet, my aunt died. Not just any aunt, either (my mom had 15 siblings and my dad had four, obviously I can't be close to every single one). My godmother. My mom's best friend. The aunt who had lived with my mom and I, raising their two kids together as more like brother and sister than cousins, for much of my life. My mom was, understandably, a wreck. There was no way my dad was going to be anywhere other than beside her side [they've been divorced for three decades, but are still best friends]. Same with me. So those plans were off. And we had to leave for Louisiana the next day... The day my husband had planned to propose. And he had already had a plate made up to do the proposal.

So what did my dear husband do? Improvise, of course. Even though I was up until 3 a.m. Making funeral arrangements, consoling my mom, and packing for us to drive from Texas to Louisiana, he woke me up at 6 a.m. that morning. Groggy as I was, I still remember that conversation:
PCD: Wake up, honey! I brought you some coffee.
Me: I don't want any f---ing coffee. I want to sleep.
PCD: We have to go. And you need coffee.
Me: No. I need sleep.
PCD: Trust me. You really want this coffee.
Me: {finally suspecting something was going on an sitting up} Wha---?

And there was my proposal on a plate.... on a flower-filled tray... with the coffee I was too tired to want.




Obviously, nothing went as Pop Culture Dad scripted or planned. While the "god mother dying the day before the proposal" story might make an interesting twist for scripted television, it certainly isn't one you want in reality. I am told the originally planned proposal involved me coming home to a house filled with flowers. That would have been nice. But my actual proposal was nice too; because at the end of the day, what I had was the man I was madly in love with completely consumed with making sure that I knew exactly how much he was in love with me too. And isn't that all that matters?

Okie doke. Share some engagement stories. I don't think I've cried enough happy tears this week.

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App Review: Baby's Touch

Developer: Ironpaper
Platform: iPhone 3GS & higher, iPod Touch - 3rd generation and higher, iPad. iOS 5 required
Price: $0.99
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5)


"This is so pointless... so mindless... so PERFECT!"

^^ That is what Pop Culture Dad said the first time he saw Pop Culture Toddler2 playing with Baby's Touch. His sentiment accurately reflects my feelings about it. So if the game is "perfect," why only four stars? Well, just because it is so pointless and mindless, that I have to reserve the one star for the main thing I usually look for in kids' apps—education.

Don't get me wrong, though. I love this app. PCT2 loves this app. Heck, even my four year old has entertained herself playing with it. Okay, okay, I'll confess. Even I have played it when the kids aren't around. It's just cute and fun.

For those who don't know me, I'm an app whore (pardon my French). I have a gazillion apps on my iPhone and iPad, and if any developer asks me if I want to play around with their app, my answer is always yes [well, almost. Don't send me any porn or religion apps, okay?]. A lot of these don't work out. Some of these come with a warning, "Do you really want me to review this? Because... uh... it's not gonna be good." (Notice there aren't a huge amount of reviews for apps I've been given? Yeah... There's a reason, unfortunately). So my expectations always start out low, especially when a developer warns me that it is just a simple game with no complexities at all. My, how he sold himself short!

The day after I downloaded the Baby Touch app, PCT2 became the first member of my family to fall victim to the nasty stomach virus going around the girls' daycare/preschool. She got sick on my way to bring them in, and, in a classic example of Murphy's Law, on a day where I had too many things going on at work to stay home. So I had to come up with ways to distract her in my office[1] until Pop Culture Dad could leave his office to pick her up while I furiously did research on Westlaw.

While PCT2 was busying herself tearing up my office, I thought "Hm.... Maybe this would be the perfect time to try out that new app?" It was. Witness:



As you can see, there is practically nothing to this game. She touches the screen, bubbles, rainbows, clouds or stars pop out with sounds and dings, she touches them, they disappear, and the process starts all over again. So simple. So mindless. And for a toddler? So. Freaking. PERFECT.

At least twice a day, PCT2 points to my iPad and says,"Bubble?". It is one of only two games she prefers to keep on rotation.

As I stated earlier, if there was any educational value to this game, I would consider it absolutely perfect from a mom's perspective. In any event, if you want something that is just awesome and entertaining for your baby or toddler, this is it.
____
[1] Door closed, because I'm not a jerk.

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PSA for the Day: Your Sick Kids

This morning I was getting Pop Culture Preschooler settled in at the breakfast table at school, and one of her little friends announced to the table, "I'm eating a lot, because I throwed up." I said something like, "Oh you got the stomach bug last week, too?". One of the teachers worriedly rushed over and asked the little girl when she was sick (I'm guessing because she hasn't missed a day of school?). The girl announced, "This morning. And my tummy still hurts."

Parents, this shit is not cute. It is not like, with the stomach virus creeping around the country and half the kids and teachers at the school out with the virus at one point or another over the last two weeks, you didn't know when you saw your kid vomit that it was probably something contagious and not just your bad cooking. My kids and hubby were all sick for an entire week because of the bug going around. I have friends all around the U.S. and Canada who have had their families infected with it. This virus is not fun, and, trust me, no one wants it.

This crap wouldn't spread so fast if when your kid throws up in the morning, you KEPT HIM/HER AT HOME. Do not bring them to school in the hope that if they don't throw up again, no one will know. If the school calls you and tells you your kid threw up PICK HIM/HER UP. Immediately. Do not let them finish out the rest of the day. I don't care what time it is. Every hour your sick kid is at school is another opportunity to infect other kids.

It isn't fair to spread a nasty virus to 30 other kids in the class, and subsequently their siblings and parents, just because you don't want to use up a couple of sick days. Yes, we all hate to miss work. But this is one case where misery should not love company. Don't be an asshole.

/rant


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Keyshia Cole and the One-Drop Rule

So apparently R&B artist Keyshia Cole started a s***-storm of controversy recently when she went on BET's 106 & Park and claimed that she wasn't initially sure how she felt about being on "Black Women Rock," because she's biracial. Madame Noire asked, "I think it's fine if she wants to point out that she's bi-racial, but one, where is this coming from, and two, are you not still black by all one drop rule standards? And are you really going to act like the rest of society doesn't still see you as a black woman and you can now no longer understand the need to celebrate black girls doing good things. C'mon now?". While I agree with M.N. in part, I can't go for the one-drop rule assessment.

For those unfamiliar, the one-drop rule is the U.S. law (and only the U.S.; no other country is so backwards), dating back to Jim Crow, which states that one-drop of negro blood makes someone black. As you can imagine, this law was invented largely to prevent miscegenation (that's "race mixing"). Not really sure how enforceable that was a hundred of years ago without discernible proof of one's lineage, as the one-drop rule resulted in lots of people "passing" for white in order to benefit from the more favorable status afforded by law and society in general.

Seeing as Jim Crow laws have been eradicated, and we live in an increasingly multiracial and multiethnic society, I don't really see a benefit to the one-drop rule in today's society. In fact, the one-drop rule seems to be invoked by black folks more than any other group. Yes, we generally tend to claim everyone and their grandmama as black. 

While there are many bi- or multi-racial/ethnic celebrities who are perceived as black merely because of their appearance--and to some degree because of their associations [Pres. Barack Obama, Halle Berry, Derek Jeter, Alicia Keys, Dwayne Johnson, Tracey Ellis-Ross, Tia and Tamara Mowrey, Bob Marley, Carmelo Anthony, Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet, Maya Rudolph, Faith Evans, Jimi Hendrix, Jordin Sparks, Kelis, Shemar Moore, and Stacy Dash just to name a few], there are also those bi-/multi-racial/ethnic whose appearances defy a label of just "black"--even to the point where many don't even know they are biracial until they come out of the color closet, so to speak [Mariah Carey, Rashida Jones, Jennifer Beals, Vin Diesel, Cash Warren, Wentworth Miller, Santino Rice and G&R's Slash are just a few who come to mind who have elicited the "OMG! I didn't know s/he was black!" response]. And what about the people who are (allegedly) "black" so far down the line that it shouldn't even matter, since no reasonable person would ever perceive them as multi-racial, let alone "black" [thinking of, for example, People's Sexiest Man 2012, Channing Tatum, who is reportedly 1/16 black on his father's side]?

I personally think it is pretty pointless to assign someone a mono-racial identity for the comfort of one group who thinks that celebrities should acknowledge their blackness and only their blackness. Look, I get why we would or should want to do it in some circumstances. Without the one-drop rule, instead of America having its first black president, we have our first half-black POTUS. Without the one-drop rule, there has never been a great black pro-golfer (not that we have a great one now, in either case, right?), just a half-black pro-golfer. However, self-identification--particularly when that self-identification is grounded in some reality--is important, and even if we allow someone their (right to a) half-black or quarter-black identity, we have still made cultural progress. President Obama self-identifies as black, because he is viewed as and treated as a black man [No worries! We still have our first "black" president--sixth if you still insist we go by the one-drop rule]. However, he acknowledges his biracial status, because to do so is an insult to the white mother and grandparents who raised him [as opposed to his African father who was largely non-present in his life]. Halle Berry was raised by her white mother, but that same mother raised her as a "black woman," because she realized that is how most of society would perceive her [And, similarly, Halle has insisted that her one-quarter black daughter is also a black woman by society's standards--despite her light hair and blue eyes]. Mariah Carey, for reasons unknown, self-identifies as black, and occasionally as "tri-racial." Dwayne Johnson self-identifies as both black and Samoan. Tiger Woods self-identifies as Cablanasian (seriously)--and that's his prerogative. The thing is, asking someone to self-identify as only one race--regardless of their life or familial experiences is not the business of the outside world.

My daughters are too young to understand the concept of race, let alone begin to self-identify. Pop Culture Preschooler only knows racial differences from a crayon-box perspective. She has declared before that she, daddy, and her sister have white faces, and mommy has a brown-face. Of course, even on the crayon-box perspective, she is incorrect, and we have corrected her that she and daddy have beige faces, while her little sister and mommy have brown faces (or, more accurately, Pop Culture Toddler2 has a tan face); but ultimately none of this will prove important as she grows up. People will put her into one box or another, and regardless of what box or boxes she checks for herself, someone will always question her choices. If PCP checks the "black" box with her pale skin, green eyes, and naturally highlighted hair (though with black features she received from me), there will be those who question whether she is "black enough." If she checks the "white" box, many will accuse her of being self-loathing [no lie, I may have that fear myself]. If she checks both boxes, then there will still be some people [including the State of Texas on the forms we filled out at the hospital!] who will consider that an unacceptable answer, and forcing her to choose only one--more often than not, the "black" box. In short, no matter what she chooses, she will lose before she's even began. Pop Culture Toddler2 has the opposite problem. Even though her features and hair came from her Caucasian, American Irish father, she undoubtedly has my coloring. Without seeing both parents present, most people don't even realize she's biracial, and when she is only with my husband, people are as confused as they were when I used to be alone with Pop Culture Preschooler as a baby--yes, I was actually confused as the nanny on several occasions. While few strangers would probably question if PCT2 self-identified as "black," any other classification may raise eyebrows and accusations. This would, of course, be unfair, because she, just like her older sister, is very much a product of both of her parents.

We will cross these bridges when we get to them. In any event, I don't think that the "one-drop rule" is the way to go, because it is not up to society to decide how a bi- or multi-racial person views him or herself (no matter how much it may irk us). Not to mention, it just gets into absurd and ridiculous results when you are talking about someone who can barely trace their black heritage, who would never be identified by society in general as a black person, and who will never know or experience any amount of discrimination as they would if they were actually a minority.

Now... as far as Keyshia Cole... though her answer was thought-provoking insofar as the general topic, it was quite a head-scratcher for me. Why? Well, because Keyshia Cole doesn't know who her daddy is. By every report, her mother was a drug addict, and didn't know who she was with during her crack-fueled binges. There has been a lot of speculation about who her father is, but no definitive answers. Maybe he was a black man, maybe he wasn't. But the bottom line is Keyshia neither knows who her father is nor has she had an experience of being raised in a multi-cultural household or society. She's an R&B artist who is largely unknown to anyone who doesn't follow R&B. Moreover, she gave this statement on Black Entertainment Television, which is... well... the only channel that plays her videos. So... you know.... Self-identification really only works when, as stated above, there's some basis in reality. I mean, I could call myself half-Vietnamese, but that doesn't make it true or reflective of my life experiences.

Ignoring the Keyshia Cole craziness, what about the rest of you? What do you think about the one-drop rule and self-identification? Should we leave it up to individuals to (within reason) identify themselves; or is there some societal value in forcing the "black" label on half-, quarter- and 1/16th black individuals, regardless of how they seem themselves?
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Porsha Picks Her Baby (RHOA)

After the AMAs last night, I started catching up on the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Wow. The new chicks.... just... wow.

Kenya is clearly cray cray, and there isn't much to be said about her that hasn't been said already. But Porsha? Oh wow... This girl is a perky little something.

The whole time she was telling Kenya about her desire for children, I kept thinking to myself, Is she 12 years old?. Even beyond the peppy enthusiasm and rambling, I mean, really. You rarely hear grown women talk that way. She wants kids (okay). Sooner rather than later (fine). Preferably twins so she doesn't have to be pregnant multiple times (okie doke. Good luck with that). Her hubby wants a boy and she wants a girl (that's normal). So she's going to have the boy first and then a girl (wait, what now?). And when Kenya points out that usually one does not have control over these things, she responds that she's just going to use the Chinese gender predictor to plan her boy and girl. (alllllrighty then...).

I get saying things like, "Ideally, I would like a boy and a girl." But saying what sex she was going to have, and even going so far as to treat the Chinese gender prediction test as though it is honestly a reliable and proven gender prediction technique is just... I can't... Do grown people do this???

If you are not familiar with it, the Chinese Gender Prediction test is a real thing. Based on the mom's lunar age and lunar month in which the baby is conceived, the test tells you what gender it should be. That's right, Porsha Stewart is putting stock in the fact that every woman her lunar age who conceives the same month as her will have the same-gendered babies. Sounds legit .

This gender predictor claims to be 90% accurate. In reality, it is—like all methods of predicting gender in a single-birth or identical twin scenario—50% accurate.

According to the Chinese Gender Predictor, I should have one girl and one boy. In fact, Pop Culture Toddler 2 was conceived smack in the middle of a three-month period that should result in a boy. Guess she missed the memo?

Seriously, what is the logic here? Some ancient Chinese secret from the cosmos? It doesn't even make any sense statistically.

And what about fraternal twins [like the ones Porsha so desperately wants... I am assuming there must be some family history or she is planning on the aid of fertility drugs, since she is clearly not of such advanced maternal age that she has a heightened risk of fraternal twins] and other multiples? Where do they factor? By this theory, they should always be the same gender.

Look, I have no problem with gender prediction methods and old wives' takes when they are used for fun only, and not treated as a serious endeavor. I can even understand people trying things like the Shettles Method or anything that has at least some basis in science (whether or not it is actually accurate). But some random chart that you found online that says every 31-year old woman who conceives in "lunar" February in any given year will have a girl?? C'mon now!


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Ladies (and Some Men), I Have an Announcement I Would Like to Make

Set your DVRs. Now.

Per Entertainment Weekly, Joe Manganiello is going to be on How I Met Your Mother for a two-episode arc starting tonight. If you've never seen the show before or can't figure out how/why Joe fits in, he has a recurring role as Brad, Marshall's friend from law school [Columbia Law, represent!]. Although my favorite storyline involving Brad and Marshall is the Season 2 episode titled "World's Greatest Couple," where they each broke up with their respective lady-loves and embark on a hilarious and accidentally couple-like bromance, my favorite Brad moment is at the end of Marshall's bachelor party (also Season 2, in an episode appropriately titled "Bachelor Party"). While I haven't been able to find the video anywhere online, let's just say that after the party, the fellas find Brad on the side of the road in the state one would usually find Alcide right after he's transformed from wolf back to (sexy) man.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Brad is now "unkempt and chubby." While I certainly cannot imagine Yum-iniello that way, it should be pretty funny to watch. 

Per Manganiello, he decided to don the fat suit and bring Brad back to the screen, because the show "was one of those first jobs where things started rolling for me.... I owe a lot to those guys." It's great to see an actor giving props to one of the roles that helped jump start his career. And with True Blood on hiatus [and me trying to refrain from watching Magic Mike every week], it'll be nice to see a little Prime Time Joe.

How I Met Your Mother appears on CBS Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. (So, yeah... TONIGHT. Get ready).

wtw-himym_175x175
photo courtesy EW.com
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Channing Tatum the Sexiest Man Alive? Not sure how I feel about this

So, as you've probably heard, People Magazine announced its Sexiest Man Alive for 2012, and it's Magic Mike's Channing Tatum. Er... Um... Yeah... I don't know.

Inline image 5
 
Look, he was sexy as all get out in Magic Mike, he has a fantastic body, can dance, and is sexy is his own way, but sexiest man alive? That's a bit of a stretch. 

I'm not going to go all crazy like some Ryan Gossling fans and claim that "Hey Girl" got robbed. [Sorry, ladies, but I don't get the Gossling love. He just doesn't do it for me.]. But surely there must have been some stronger contenders in 2012. People wouldn't even have to stretch too far to find them.

I mean, you know who else was in that movie?

This guy:
Inline image 1
And this one:
Inline image 2

And this one:

   

Annnnnnnnd this guy:
Inline image 4
 
I mean, that's some pretty heavy competition, and smooth dance moves notwithstanding, I don't think our boy Channing comes out number one. [For the record, in case there are any doubts: Joe Manganiello. No. Freaking. Contest. EVER].

What do you all (ladies and gents alike) think? Did people get it right? Would you have picked another MM co-star? Someone different altogether?
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A New Elmo?

In Kevin Clash's [permanent?] absence, might I suggest Community's Alison Brie?

Witness this performance in The Five-Year Engagement:



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I Hate VH1 for Devaluing the Word "Diva"



VH1 recently announced its lineup for "Divas 2012," and all I can say is Are you [pardon my French]fucking kidding me????

Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Rowland, Ciara, and Jordin Sparks. Only two of those ladies (Kelly and Jordin) can sing without auto-tune; and, let's face it, even with auto-tune, those chicks can't sing. Jordin and Kelly are okay, maybe even good(ish), but they are not divas!

Look, I get that Whitney and Donna dead, Chaka and Aretha are old, and Mariah and Christina have been on "Divas" already; but at least these ladies truly personify a "diva." Adam Lambert (the emcee) embodies a diva better than Miley Cyrus. Heck, at least he can sing.

Why doesn't VH1 just call it what it really is—"Pandering to the Teen and Young 20s Demographic 2012"???

I feel about VH1 the same way The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon feels about Apple's Genius Bar.

Just. Stop.


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A PSA to Those Non-New Yorkers Who Had Intended to Run the NY Marathon This Weekend

As you have probably heard by now, Mayor Bloomberg decided today to cancel the New York Marathon because of the post-Sandy controversy surrounding the idea of holding a marathon when so many New Yorkers are without power, and the City is very much still in the middle of relief efforts.

I was only a temporary New Yorker for three years, and that was more than a decade ago; but I still have many friends (and one family member) there and other areas affected by Sandy.

Imagine my surprise to turn in to a NYC-based, national radio show this afternoon and hearing a few marathon runners bitching and moaning about the cancelation, including one lady from Houston, who should certainly know better, since we get our own fair share of destructive weather. Many of those people got schooled on the air.

Consider this my Public Service Announcement to any disappointed runners who have not yet been so schooled:

If you flew into NYC this weekend to run the marathon and are now raving mad because you now have "nothing to do," how about you donate your downtime to the Red Cross or other hurricane recovery efforts?? If you didn't make it into the city before the marathon was canceled, then how about you feel happy about the fact that your hotel room can go to a displaced NY resident, many of whom were told they had to evacuate the rooms before Saturday? In any event, show some damn gratitude for your luxuries and some sympathy for people who suffered devastation this week. One day, it could be you or someone you love. Wouldn't you like some kindness, understanding, and sympathy? You've already done the training. You can run a later marathon. But NYC and its residents need some TLC right now—not 50,000 people running through the streets and redirecting medical personnel.


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Real Housewives of New Jersey Reunion, Part Three Million

I just got this in my email from Bravo:


OMFG, how many parts ARE there to the RHONJ reunion show??? They say three, but I swear it feels like at least 30. And I could have sworn that Juicy (ew!) Joe was on the part I fell asleep watching last week. So how are the husbands just joining now? Don't you mean "the other husbands," Andy?

I am. So. Over. This.

Without watching, I can tell you exactly what happens:

Teresa will lie and blink a lot, use some not-so-big-words incorrectly, accuse everyone of ganging up on her, and pretend her marriage is solid as a rock while everyone else's is falling apart. She will insist that every hurtful thing she has ever said to another cast member was "just a joke. Don't you get it??" She also will claim that everyone is just jealous of her and her celebrity and take zero responsibility for the fact that every single relationship in her life (except the one with Dina, whose bitch has been showing since she left the show) has crumbled.

Joe will sit with her and continue to insist that he was not talking to his mistress on the phone when he called his wife the b-word and the c-word and then pretended he was talking to a Spanish worker (in Italian, natch) when she caught him. They will both claim that they are very wealthy and at no time committed bankruptcy fraud, despite lying to the Office of the United States Trustee (a division of the Department of Justice) about their assets. Then they will insist that, despite the fact that they give paid interviews to tabloids every other month, that their private lives are private, and people should butt out. They will also insist the tabloids twisted their words.

Jacqueline will also lie a lot, yell at Teresa, cry a few times about her son, Ashley, and her now-dead friendship with Teresa. She will claim her marriage is strong, even though it probably isn't or at least wasn't at some point. She will avoid talking about Ashley unless or until someone else brings it up, which they will (I'm looking at you, Andy)

Melissa will yell at Teresa... a lot. She will once again mention during every single topic that her single is set to be released on iTunes very soon. She will not sing live. She will, however, flip her hair and bat her eyelashes… a lot. She will mention that Teresa hates her and is out to get her, and while this is all true, she will exaggerate it and blow it out of proportion until no one cares anymore [I'm already at that point, in case you couldn't tell].

Joe will join Melissa on the couch and yell at Teresa... a lot. He will mention their father no less than 10 times. He will also talk about therapy. He and Juicy (ew!) Joe will get into it and maybe even have to be separated by security. In short, it will look a lot like Melissa and Joe's son's christening (Jesus loves a good brawl per the Gorga/Guidices).

Kathy will roll her eyes... a lot. She will continue to switch sides depending on who seems to be winning the argument at that point. Ritchie will join her and make some extremely disgusting jokes that no one wants to hear. Their daughter, Victoria, will be away at college somewhere watching in her dorm room, cringing, and pretending like she's never met these people in her life.

And last but not least... Caroline. Caroline, I lurves ya, but you iz wearing on my nerves too, gurl. Caroline will keep her arms folded across her lap, looking down at everyone in judgment (rightly so). When Jacqueline is addressed directly, Caroline will answer for her. She may even grab her, hug her, and hold her tight, as though she is a small child (which she sometimes is, lezbehonest). She will attempt to deflect accusations of being a bully with such a menacing tone that you start to wonder "Is she a bully?" But then you, the viewer, will realize she isn't really, she's just a 50-year old woman who has finally realized she's way too old and impatient to be on this stupid ass show and that she is surrounded by idiots, who, sadly, she can't escape because she's related to one-third of them. So, yes, she may be mean and snippy, even condescending, but not quite a bully. That will not, however, stop the sanctimony from ignoring the living shit out of you.

Then we, the viewers, will turn off the reunion, wondering how we wasted three hours of our lives on this garbage… only to forget about it all in a few months and tune in for season five.

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The Hasbro Toy Shop Introduces *New* Games by Zynga! Only... Not Really....

And in at least one case, what they mean by "new" is "we changed the name" and pretended this concept never existed prior to Facebook or your iPhone.

Check this out. Seriously. This was e-mailed to me today.

Dear Zynga, 

This is NOT a new game. It's been around for decades. We old people call it "Scrabble." There's a picture of me "playing" it in 1980 on the floor of my parents' living room. It was old then. It was also distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Hasbro, so Hasbro really needs to drop the façade.

Look, I don't mind that you want to make Farmville into a board game (seriously) and keep a cash cow going; but please don't try to act like "Words With Friends" is something none of us have ever seen in board game format. Heck, it has even been in digital format before you came along.

Sincerely,
The World

Inline image 1
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Just Because Someone is a Celebrity Doesn't Give You a Right to Harass

WARNING: There is some strong language in here.

So I'm minding my own business, reading Jacqueline Laurita's tweets when I noticed she was getting some very ugly comments from two accounts. Honestly, it all smacked of trolling, and I immediately assumed her former friend, Teresa, or Teresa's husband, Juicy [ew!] Joe were hiding behind fake names. So I went to explore all of these accounts' tweets. Of course, both accounts were less than a week old, with very few followers and only following the accounts they were harassing. One of these accounts in particular had engaged in a series of harassment of public figures, complete with curse words and threats—first to some celebrity who is presumably having an affair with Magic Johnson (ew! For real?), then Nikki Minaj [hey! I'm Team Mimi, but there's no need to threaten Nikki!], then Melissa Gorga and Jacqueline Laurita from the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Look, I get that Twitter is fun because you get to interact with celebrities. And I get that people have lots of complaints about things famous people say or do [Hey, I've got a blog full of complaints. I get it!]; but there's a big difference between airing out your grievances about a celebrity in a public place and harassing said celebrity on Twitter or via e-mail.

Most people commenting on the Bravo celebrity blogs have gotten this concept. When they comment on someone's blog, it is usually either words of encouragement or, if critical, something in the way of constructive criticism or a question about a contradiction. You never see name-calling or threats. Maybe Bravo.com does a better job of weeding out comments from trolls? Or maybe the people who comment on Bravo.com have just been raised with better manners? I dunno.

Pop Culture Dad has a very simple rule when it comes to online interactions: would you say it to this person's face or would you talk to/about someone like that in front of your family, friends, coworkers, etc.? If you start to type something online that you know is inappropriate in any other context, then you should know better than saying it in an online setting. The luxury of anonymity shouldn't give you license to be an asshole. For many, however, that is apparently exactly what the anonymity of the internet means.

I understand that being a celebrity brings heightened responsibilities. I remember in law school when we talked about defamation suits having a higher standard when they involve public figures. I know there are things that Joe and Jane Public can say or do that someone in the public eye could not without intense scrutiny (even something so simple as going out to buy a home pregnancy test), just as I understand celebrities get away with doing some things that would get Joe and Jane Public jail time. However, heightened public status doesn't mean that people don't have feelings. And someone's heightened public status doesn't make you any less of a douchebag when you say to them things like "you know you ain't to [sic] cute to be popped in the mouth...." or "fuck you bitch. [other celebrity] is a lying whore and it is obvious...". Yes, both of these tweets came from the same awful person to different celebrities. No, I will not glorify this person by providing his/her Twitter address.

You don't like Nikki Minaj's behavior toward the Divine Ms. MC? Write on your Facebook page about it, phone a friend, write a blog, tweet about it; but don't tweet to her about it. Celebrities have feelings, too, ya know; and most humans—famous people included—don't like being bullied or threatened. If Miss Minaj wants to go Google herself and finds many horrible things said about her, then that's the risk she ran by searching for "Nikki Minaj Mariah Carey American Idol fight." Even The Superficial, my favorite snarky, biting celebrity new blogger, doesn't tag celebrities in the tweets or Facebook posts of his blog posts about them. Even a tiger with the sharpest claws has his limits, dammit!

If you can't get the distinction between what you say about a celebrity and what you say to a celebrity, let's think in middle school terms, shall we [And my apologies in advance, but I was in middle school in the 80s.]? When the Heathers wrote about you in their Slam Book, you didn't give a shit, because you never saw that Slam Book, right? It was only an issue when Heather #3 came up to you to say to your face all the awful things they said behind your back (that bitch!). You were in blissful ignorance until that moment. How about if you broke into the Queen Bee's locker to steal her Slam Book to see if they wrote about you? Well, then you were the one who got in trouble, right? And isn't it kind of your own fault for just having to know things that other people avoided telling you? [No, I'm not saying saying mean things is a-okay. Just saying that some shit, you really don't need to know].

The bottom line is: Think. Is it really absolutely necessary that Lindsay Lohan know what you personally think about her alleged stealing? Does Anderson Cooper give a rat's ass that you think gay marriage is gross? No. So keep your mean thoughts contained to your family, friends, fans, and followers. If these celebs are following you, then they'll know your deepest, darkest, most hateful thoughts about their new hair color soon enough (and promptly unfollow you, I am guessing). If they aren't, then you have succeeded in getting a rant off your chest without unnecessarily hurting the feelings of another human being.


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Pop Culture "Carly Rae"

This conversation, which took place in my husband's car yesterday, is pretty typical in my house:

Pop Culture Preschooler: Daddy! What happened to my song?!?

Pop Culture Dad: It's over. He finally called her.

Pop Culture Mom: Well... Maybe.




Call this girl!


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If I Can Pin It, I CAN Do It: Pop Culture Toddler 2's First Birthday Party



Photo by M Photography
 Look at that smile!
As of Saturday, September 29th, Pop Culture Baby 2 (AKA Brennan) is a baby no more. My little princess is now one.

I started party planning mode months in advance. At first, I was set on doing a Lil' Angels theme after finding some of the decorations on clearance at Party City. I polled my gal pals about it. Most thought it was cute, but one thought skulls were a little morbid for a baby's birthday party. Although I disagree, I could see how some of my family members would have also had that viewpoint. Besides, after looking at and Pinning some of the Lil' Angel decorations to my Pinterest board for kids' birthday ideas, another idea was forming in my head.

PCT2 is such a little rock star. Early on, my friends gave her the nickname Super Baby. She was so ahead of everything, and so happy while doing it. She is honestly as close to perfect as a kid can come (minus her lack of sense of self-preservation). A rock star birthday seemed just too perfect for her. And, well, since we are practically the house that Sanrio built, a Hello Kitty rock star theme seemed perfect. I got to websurfing and Pinning.

I found a lot of great ideas online, but wasn't sure how I was going to pull them off. That led me to starting the decorations two months before PCT2's birthday, so I would have ample time to start over if I messed up.

The first thing I did were the invitations. I found some pink and black argyle images/digital scrapbook paper on Etsy. As I blogged about previously, I designed the invitations with an app on my iPad. I bought some 5x7 invitation paper to print them out (with gorgeous hot pink envelopes to match). When I had trouble getting the print settings perfect (going from iPad to PC), I got some help from one of my mommy board pals, Sweets4ever at Craftster.

The invitations were my starting point for the rest of the decorations. I found some a Hello Kitty buttons on Etsy also. While they never printed properly as 1" buttons, they did provide me with great backdrops for my other decorations. One of my favorite Hello Kitty rock star designs (the same one on the invite) served as the base for the lollipop decorations, some of the hanging decorations, the wall posters and the favor boxes.

Photo by M Photography

Hanging and Wall Decorations

The second long-term design project were the aforementioned hanging decorations. Initially I thought about buying those Lil' Angel hangers in the clearance bin and pasting Hello Kitty over the skulls. I figured out, however, I could do it on my own. I got circular and scalloped punches in varying sizes. At night when everyone was asleep (I work, after all), I would sit up in bed punching out the Hello Kitty's and various plain black circles with either PCT2's name or a "1" on them and plain circles or scallops on either the argyle pattern, black, or silver sparkles. Once a had a quart-size Ziplock bag completely full of punched-out paper, I started matching various shapes, sizes and designs until I was happy. I then bough decorating ribbon in black, pink and silver, and spent my nights gluing and taping my designs. The result were hanging ribbon decorations with three circles on each. I saved the remaining paper cut outs for other decorations.

I also bought several balloons to hang. We are in the process of selling our house, so the last thing I wanted to do is have tape and push puns everywhere. However, thanks to the helium shortage, my vision of floating balloon everywhere had to be curtailed. I did manage to procure two tanks, one of which was used almost exclusively on three gigantic mylar balloons shaped like the number one.

Photo by M Photography
I also made signs for the walls, door and window using the Avery Removable Wall and Window Signs. Some of the reviews regarding the actual removability of the stickers were not favorable, and with freshly-painted walls, I was not willing to take a huge chance. If I had to do things over, I would skip these.

Photo by M Photography

Candy Bar

I was desperate to do a candy bar. I always love seeing them at parties, and there were some very cool-looking ideas on Pinterest. However, I didn't want to spend three-figures making one. I bought some satin pink polka dot fabric on eBay to use as a table cloth and jars from the dollar store. I found pink and black candies on Amazon.com and from various candy wholesalers online. I also found some raspberry M&Ms in varying shades of dark pink and licorice bites from my local Super Target. I decorated the glass jars with ribbons I bought from Michael's and the punched-out designs I had made previously. For the lollipops, I got some flower decorating foam boards and wrapped them in black tissue paper, putting ribbons around one layer and pink and black argyle duct tape around the other. The personalized stickers on the lollipops were created on Microsoft Word with Avery 1" round labels. I took my favorite Hello Kitty button design and used Word to personalize the circle around her.

We will reuse the jars and the fabric. I can't sew to save my life, but my mother is very good at it and plans to make the girls dresses with the fabric.

Photo by M Photography


Photo by M Photography
Mmm.. candy ribbons!
Photo by M Photography







Photo by M Photography

Favor Boxes
I found cheap hot pink and black boxes on Amazon and used the same Hello Kitty design, but on the 2" Avery stickers to decorate the favor boxes. The favor boxes were all empty for the kids to fill up with cookies (see below) and candy from the candy bar.



Cookies

I bought some Hello Kitty cookie cutters from Sanrio.com and a guitar cookie cutter from Amazon. I already had the star [honestly, I can't believe we didn't have a Hello Kitty cookie cutter before now!]. I baked several dozen cookies and frosted them all.

For the packaging, I got Avery Printable Bag Toppers, which also came with the plastic bags. They perfectly fit all of my oversized cookies, except for a couple of the guitars, which had spread when baked. Most of those broke in half as I was trying to get them into the bags, anyway, so it all worked out. I also had some trouble with the black cookie frosting refusing to harden, but over all, the cookies weren't bad. My mom assumed I had bought them somewhere, so I take that as a compliment.

Some Kitties clearly fared better than others!


Water Bottles

Thank you, Pinterest! I made the water bottles by removing the existing labels from water bottles and putting pink and black argyle duct tape where the labels used to be. They matched the party beautifully, and unlike paper labels you make yourself, these could go in a cooler without being destroyed.

Photo by M Photography


Cake and Smash Cake

I take no credit for the actual birthday cake. After getting custom cake quotes that were way out of budget for a one-year old birthday party, I contacted a coworker of mine, who was the person who made Pop Culture Preschooler's first birthday cake [a cute princess castle; after the first birthday, we stick to sheet cakes from the grocery store]. I sent her the invitation design and asked what she thought she could do with it. She told me she would try a few things, but had never used fondant before. I set my expectations low. When she arrived with the cake on PCT2's birthday, I nearly fell over. The cake arrived in four beautiful parts, ready to be assembled. The last two parts of the cake were the Hello Kitty (head and body)—the part of the cake we were both worried wouldn't work. I had already bought s plush Hello Kitty to use as a cake topper just in case. No need. This Kitty was (is) FABULOUS. She's also edible (made of Rice Krispie treats on the inside). However, we won't touch her. She is too beautiful to eat. [okay, okay... We did crack open her body at work. Delish!]

Photo by M Photography


All photos by M Photography

My smash cake did not go as well, though. No matter. Its purpose was to be demolished! I am proud of myself for figuring out how to (kind of) use fondant, though. And PCT2 sure didn't seem to mind!

Photo by M Photography
Photo by M Photography
Photo by M Photography

Birthday Board

This is one of my proudest Pinterest-inspired creations. I spent weeks playing around with fonts on my computer and drawing things out on my iPad and by hand until I was satisfied with how the board would look. Initially I wanted to do a chalkboard with chalk markers, but I couldn't find a board with a frame I liked. So I settled instead on a black canvas with paint markers.

Some of my numbers proved wrong at the well-baby checkup the next day (she's actually 30.25" long and 19 lbs 12 oz), but it still looks good.
Photo by M Photography
Photo by M Photography


Pictures

Special thanks to my friend Mirna at M Photography for taking pictures. Mirna does all of our family pictures, and she totally rocks! If anyone is in the Houston area, I highly recommend you give her a call!
Pop Culture Preschooler ready to rock out.
Photo by M Photography

Note: any picture that doesn't say "Photo by M Photography" under it was taken with my iPad (that's why the quality isn't as good).

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This Techie is Skipping the New iPhone



I've been waiting for over a year for the announcement. I've kept abreast of all the rumors. I have a saved Google News alert for "iPhone 5." And now that the announcement has been made and the iPhone 5 is set to release next week, suddenly I'm all "meh... Guess I can wait two years until the iPhone 6 comes out."

Don't get me wrong. The iPhone 5 is clearly impressive and has a number of long-awaited improvements. For me, however, this is a clear case of "too little, too late."

When the iPhone 4S came out last year, my immediate reaction was, "Are you shitting me???". Seeing as Apple pulled this "ha ha! We're not really releasing a new model even though you have been waiting a year" game on us before (3GS, anyone?), I should have not been surprised. Yet, I still was. Yes, the camera was improved, and there's Siri; but when you really break it down, there's not that much of a difference between the iPhone 4 and the 4S. And thanks to the incremental steps put forth with the 4S (not to mention the iPad 3, which has some but not all of these "revolutionary" changes in the iPhone 5), what should have been a mind-blowing, game changing announcement was just "Okay. Sure."

There is not enough of a change in the iPhone 5 to make me jump and plunk down $400 (I'm a 64 GB kinda gal). Bigger screen? I have an iPad 3 with an even larger screen, which I bring everywhere. Retina display? iPad has that too. Panoramic pictures? I don't need them, and the iPhone's camera is still worse than that of other smartphones (like the Nokia Lumina or Samsung Galaxy), so it's not replacing my real camera any time soon. Siri, new maps, iCloud tabs, Passbook, photo streaming, Facebook integration?? It's all coming to the iPad with the update to iOS 6.

Look, I'm not saying the iPhone 5 isn't impressive. I'm just saying its not impressive enough to get me to make the jump. What about all of you? Are you sufficiently impressed with the iPhone 5, or will you be holding on to your current i-devices?

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So... Much... Awesome...

ABC just posted the Season 2 poster for Once Upon a Time and asked fans what do they think of it. What do I think?? What do I think?? I think the season premiere cannot come fast enough!!



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This MONTH I'm Loving... Fall Returns to TV!!

There is nothing a TVophile loves more than the start of the fall season, and I am there, baby!

I am that dork who puts show premieres on my calendar so I don't miss anything by allowing my ADD to let me forget when a show is set to start. For shows that are already in our DVR playlist and which don't have any dramatic shifts in time slot, we are good to go, but the new shows are sometimes tricky to keep track of.

This week, Entertainment Weekly came out with their Fall TV preview issue:



There is so much awesomeness on that cover, I didn't know where to begin. Actually, that's a lie. I began with Once Upon a Time, which is easily my favorite television drama right now. Thank you, ABC, for the mini-marathon last weekend!

Once was very closely followed by The Big Bang Theory (my favorite comedy), then The New Girl (my favorite theme song), the The Mindy Project (one of my most anticipated new shows).

What will the Pop Culture Household (or at least two of us) be watching this year?

Returning Shows

Sundays:
Once Upon a Time (Sept. 30, ABC)
Family Guy (Sept. 30, Fox)
Dexter (Sept. 30, Showtime)

Mondays:
Bones (Sept. 17, Fox)
How I Met Your Mother (Sept. 24, CBS)
2 Broke Girls (Sept. 24, CBS)
Mike & Molly (Sept. 24, CBS)
Castle (Sept. 24, ABC)

Tuesdays
Private Practice (Sept. 25, ABC)
Happy Endings (Oct. 23, ABC)
Don't Trust the B— in Apt. 23 (Oct. 23, ABC)
Raising Hope (Oct. 2, Fox)
The New Girl (Sept. 25, Fox)

Wednesdays
Modern Family (Sep. 26, ABC)
Law & Order: SVU (Sept. 26, NBC)
Suburgatory (Oct. 17, ABC)
American Horror Story (Oct. 17, FX)

Thursdays
Glee (Sept. 13, Fox)
Up All Night (Sept. 20, NBC)
Parks and Recreation (Sept. 20, NBC)
The Office (Sept. 20, NBC)
The Big Bang Theory (Sept. 27, CBS)
30 Rock (Oct. 4, NBC)

Fridays
Whitney (Oct. 19, NBC)
Community (Oct. 19, NBC)

Saturdays
Saturday Night Live (Sept. 15, NBC) — the first host will be Seth MacFarlane with musical guest Frank Ocean. Yes, please.


New Shows (We will watch these until they suck or get cancelled):*

*indicates I have already watched the pilot on U-verse OnDemand—thank you Big Four networks for making that happen (well, some of you, anyway)!

Sundays:
666 Park Avenue (Sept. 30, ABC)
Call the Midwife (Sept. 30, PBS) — you had me at the title

Mondays
Revolution (Sept. 17, NBC) — blatant Hunger Games ripoff, and I don't care
Partners (Sept. 24, CBS)

Tuesdays
*Go On (Sept. 11, NBC)
*The New Normal (Sept. 11, NBC)
*Ben and Kate (Sept. 25, Fox)
*The Mindy Project (Sept. 25, Fox)

Wednesdays
Guys With Kids (Sept. 26, NBC)
*Animal Practice (Sept. 26, NBC)
Nashville (Oct. 10, ABC)— I'm a sucker for Hayden Panettierre's one-note acting
The Neighbors (Sept. 26, ABC)

Thursdays
Elementary (Sept. 27, CBS) — Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Lu? Yes!

Fridays
Made in New Jersey (Sept. 28, CBS)

So, yes, if it is not totally obvious, I watch a lot of television. A lot. This doesn't even count the shows I love on alternative cable networks, like Psych on USA, which has its own weird season. Now, I just need to go clear the DVR of old Bubble Guppies, Peppa Pig, and Sesame Street episodes [Season 43 premieres Sept. 24, BTW], so we have room for all the grown-up shows!


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This Week I'm Loving... gMusic: A Google a Music Player (app review)



What's a girl to do when she has Google Play and Amazon MP3 apps on her Kindle Fire and iTunes songs on her iPad and iPhone [first-world problems, I know, leave me alone!]? Well, you could do like Pop Culture Dad did and spend three days converting your entire iTunes music library to MP3s and then uploading that to Google Play, vowing to never use iTunes again... Or you could go the sane and easy route of finding a player that allows you to listen to your Google music on your iOS platforms.

You cannot access Google Play to actually play songs from your iPad or iPhone. Go ahead. Try it. I did, and after Safari crashed several times, I finally got the message.

Before finding gMusic, I tried another app (a free one) which shall remain nameless. Not only did it not work, but the app had the gall to suggest I avoid ads and pay for their upgraded version instead. Considering the ads were the only part of that app that worked, no thank you.

So I took a chance on purchasing gMusic. Normally, I avoid the paid version until I am sure an app will work, but for $1.99 and desperation, I thought it was worth the gamble. It was. As I type this, my iPad is blasting Lady Gaga (don't judge). Now that I feel comfortable and confident about the app's ability to work, I plan on purchasing a lot more music via Google and Amazon. Huzzah!



Hey! Don't look at me like that! I haven't purchased that much from Google, and when I do it is the stuff on sale. I swear I have more… um… varied and sophisticated tastes is music!

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