September 2009
55 posts
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Meet Sarah Palin's Ghostwriter
Ex-Governor Sarah Palin has a memoir coming out soon and the hype is enormous. I know it shouldn’t, but learning that the book was ghostwritten bums me out. I really enjoyed the image of her hunched over a desk, giggling to herself, periodically stopping her writing to look out the window, wave to Russia and shoot a moose - but alas, these things are not to be.
Lynn Vincent took leave from...
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10 Word (or less) Movie Review
State of Play
Review: Doubters of the power of newspapers, see this fantastic film. (A)
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Facebooked for Three to Five
Dear people who want to do illegal things publicly - maybe you should rethink your plan. Like openly talking about killing the President on a social network site? … That’s pretty much a bad idea.
In a creepier-than-usual case of social networking gone awry, a user-created poll on Facebook was recently discovered posing the question “Should Obama be killed?” Blog Political Carnival...
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10 Word (or less) TV Review
Titan Maximum premier
Review: Like the robot, I’m waiting for it to come together. (B-)
Lame...
For those who were eagerly awaiting the remake of Fame, um….
When in doubt, Hollywood studios can always fall back on a remake. The strategy doesn’t seem to be working for MGM’s Fame, though, and critics across the board are taking aim at an updated take on the classic 1980 musical about students at a New York City performing arts school. Reviews of the film, which opened this weekend,...
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Song of the Day: Chairlift -...
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For those who keep saying Twitter is a fading fad, you might want to rethink your arguments. It looks like the social network service is going to be around for quite a while…
Can Twitter make this announcement under its 140-character limit? After $100 million in venture-capital funding was provided by investors to social-networking site Twitter, the company’s value may have reached an...
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Song of the Day: Matt Costa - “Mr. Pitiful”
In...
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My Childhood in a Box
This weekend is the premier of the new Adult Swim show, Titan Maximums, by the makers of Robot Chicken. It’s a parody of children’s programs like Power Rangers and Voltron and will be a seriously awesome bit of nostalgia-joy for anyone who grew up watching those shows.
This got me talking with other people about my own beloved childhood programs and which ones still make me happy today. This also...
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10 Word (or less) TV Review
FlashForward pilot episode
Review: “Lost“‘s premier had me hooked, this had me feeling lost. (B)
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Song of the Day: MuteMath -...
Winter Baby Blues
You know, as someone born in January (the first to be exact), I’m not sure I like being immediately thought of as a failure, for whatever the reason…
Children born in the winter months already have a few strikes against them. Study after study has shown that they test poorly, don’t get as far in school, earn less, are less healthy, and don’t live as long as children born...
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Disney Thinks It's Magical? Ha!
I’m so torn on the issue of this upcoming Harry Potter theme park. On one hand, it’s butchering all aspects of the imagination we had while reading the books by turning it into a corporation’s real-life money-making machine. On the other hand, drinking butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks would be sooooooooo cool…
When a theme park called The Wizarding World opens next...
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10 Word (or less) TV Review
Premier of Heroes Season 4
Review: I like your direction, Heroes, but I’m watching you…closely. (B-)
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Song of the Day: Tom Petty - “It’s...
Alex: Looking For Work In All The Wrong Places
I thought I was doing well on my job hunt - fixing up my resume, networking, inquisitive phone calls, sending out emails and follow up emails and the like - but maybe I should spend less time applying and more time advertising.
LONDON – In a pinstripe suit, silk tie and polished shoes, David Rowe has all the trappings of a successful London city worker, except for one stark difference —...
10 Less Known Facebook Features →
I’ve been using Facebook from the beginning, when it was just a fun way to waste time (and oh my, the time I wasted on Facebook). Now, though, it’s almost unthinkable to not have a profile page, both for work and play. What I love about Facebook is how the site is constantly changing - adding new features all the time, especially things its users are asking for. Here are ten features I...
When The News is News
Bad journalist, bad!
Apparently at Fox News, if it’s a slow news day, you can always make your own. A producer for the cable network has been caught on tape waving her arms to hype a crowd from behind-the-scenes at a 9/12 rally while reporter Griff Jenkins tells Glenn Beck about the impassioned “grassroots movement” at hand. Jenkins continues in the segment, “this is an uprising,” adding “we are...
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Song of the Day: The Beatles - “Blackbird”
...
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Leader of the Pack? Not So Much.
This story just made me giggle.
Like a scene out of Saturday Night Live: CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer showed up on Celebrity Jeopardy on Thursday night and finished Double Jeopardy $4,600 in the hole. (Because the show was for charity, he was given $1,000 to play with in Final Jeopardy.) He didn’t know where Jesus Christ was born, and thought that Julia Childs wrote Mastering the Art of French...
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Song of the Day: Gym Class Heroes - “Taxi...
A (Horrifying) Show About Nothing
It’s hard not to fall in love with Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a charming show about five friends living in Pennsylvania… Of course, there are many types of love. Some come filled with roses and sweet scenes, the essence of romantic comedies. Some come after years of friendship, a wonderful surprise. Some come quickly and without warning, an unexpected shock.
This is not any of those types...
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The Power of Social Media
This is interesting. According to Nielson, social media is now the fourth most popular acitivty online. Even more so than Email.
Nielsen reports that the use of social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, YouTube and others has passed the use of email to become the 4th most popular activity online, growing at double the rate of the other four activities ranking in the top five. (Connect...
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10 Word (or less) Movie Review
500 Days of Summer
Review: For a self-described “non-love-story,” I fell in love anyway. (A-)
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Song of the Day: Cold War Kids - “Against...
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At Last We Will Have (Adorable) Revenge...
As someone said to me: “This is what the Internet was made for.”
AnimalsWithLightsabers.com - Because even squirrels can be Jedi.
I’m happier now than you could ever know.
“It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day...”
– Jerry Seinfeld
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Song of the Day: The Pogues - “Body of an...
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10 Word (or less) Movie Review
Sunshine Cleaning
Review: Amy and Emily can clean up after me anytime. (B+)
http://www.AlexShebar.com →
Mark it. The first ever AlexShebar.com went live at exactly 12:28 a.m. on Tuesday, September 15, 2009. Home to both my professional work and pop-culture fascinations, this is now the best spot on the Internet. Don’t take it personally Wikipedia, you’ve just been replaced. It happens, move on.
It's-a-Me, Mario!
My childhood has a voice, and it sounds like this:
Mention the name Charles Martinet to computer game fans and you’ll probably draw a blank but when they hear his voice he is instantly recognisable. Martinet is the voice actor behind the most famous character in video games - Super Mario. (The Daily Telegraph)
CLICK HERE for the full article and video.
I could listen to that voice...
The Shebar Twitter →
Yeah, it’s my twitter account. Instead of fighting about it, you should just follow me and then we can be friends. I’d like that. I think you would too.
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Song of the Day: Barenaked Ladies - “The History...
That's Not Hot
In news that might make you question your sanity:
Paris Hilton was immortalized this week when the new edition of the “Oxford Book of Quotations” hit shelves, and her contribution wasn’t simply “That’s hot.” The book includes her quote: “Dress cute wherever you go, life is too short to blend in.” (Reuters)
The English major in me is weeping.
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10 Word (or less) Movie Review
Adventureland
Review: Wow, I didn’t remember the 80’s being that boring. (C+)
“Inspirational thought: Try to laugh once a day, even (and especially) if...”
http://madmenfootnotes.com/ →
Ever wonder how accurate “Mad Men” is to the 60’s, or if the ads they present are real? This is an excellent little site I discovered which does just that. It may be best if you smoke while reading it…
“I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.”
– Rufus T. Firefly (“Duck Soup”)
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10 Word (or less) Movie Review
District 9
Review: Michael Bay, this is how you make sci-fi. Take notes. (A)
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Song of the Day: Mighty Mighty Bostones -...
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Free Pizza Deal Actually a Tasty Accident
(Originally published in The Cincinnati Enquirer on April 2, 2009)
Featured on the front page of www.MSN.com and www.Yahoo.com for the entire day on April 2, 2009.
ONLINE GLITCH OFFER TASTY DEAL
By Alex Shebar
Michelle Imsicke isn’t one to turn down free food.
Still, an offer from Domino’s Pizza for a free medium pie did make her pause for a moment – but only a...
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Channeling Pain Into Art
(Originally published in The Cincinnati Enquirer on Nov. 6, 2008)
Won first place in the 2008 Society of Professional Journalists’ Arts/Entertainment Feature category (Cincinnati.)
ARTIST ANTONIO ADAMS BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO TRAGEDY
By Alex Shebar
Antonio Adams is a beautiful speaker, though he rarely talks. His conversation is his art.
It’s true in his everyday life, and more so...
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