Results tagged “popculture”

Seattlest has heard good things about the All-Star Pop Culture quiz at Jillian's ever since it started up. We still haven't had a chance to check it out—Tuesday's our regular trivia night, even when we're not hosting. But since the spring season kicks off tonight, we did the next best thing: interviewed Trevor Trifiro, the brains behind the quiz.

What a glorious morning! The Sonics have won three of five, Edgar Martinez wasn't in the Mitchell Report, we've got a kickin' holiday party to attend tonight.

In 1987, the British illustrator Martin Handford creates a cartoon character named Wally for a series of children's books. Renamed Waldo for the American edition, he becomes an icon of pop culture.

Tonight's three-man show at Roq La Rue brings three quintessential pop surrealists to town.

Remember a few years back when "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" came out and the Flaming Lips were suddenly everywhere? Mitsubishi started using "Do You Realize" to hawk their cars and Justin Timberlake was dressing up in a dolphin suit and jumping on stage during Lips shows? For a few glorious moments the hipsters and frat boys were humming the same tune, and no one seemed to mind.

Kurt Cobain’s widow and his hometown have a lot in common. Both Courtney Love and Aberdeen have battled substance abuse. Both are scorned for their blighted appearance. And both had a lot of wood running through them in their heyday.

Next up was Juno, the latest comedy from Jason Reitman. We loved his first feature, Thank You for Smoking, and had heard nothing but good buzz about this flick, which is kinda Knocked Up meets Superbad, if Judd Apatow stopped focusing so much on male friendships and paid more attention to the pregnant girl. As the titular acid-tongued, preggo high schooler, Ellen Page keeps on getting better and better, and the rest of the cast (JK Simmons, Allison Ranney, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman, reunited here with his TV son, sweet baby Michael Cera) ain't no slouch neither. A couple minor quibbles: if anything the film is too cute by half. We don't need pop culture references for the sake of pop culture references: "No, It's Morgan Freeman. I'm here to collect some bones." And we certainly don't need a quirky folk song introducing every goddamn scene (Wes Anderson much?). Still, the film was ultimately very moving -- we always appreciate it when a foul-mouthed movie turns out to have some heart.

Meeting Jesca Hoop before a recent opening-slot gig at the Showbox, we weren't entirely sure what to make of her. With her debut LP not out for two months and only a few songs available streaming on the net, we labored--mistakenly--under the impression that this waifish Jack Mormon who'd spent several years homesteading was really just another singer-songwriter strumming an acoustic guitar.

We're pretty sure we stumbled across Nicola Griffith's The Blue Place at Bailey/Coy Books. It's been years since we first read it, and since then "You like mysteries? Have you read The Blue Place?" has been a regular part of our conversations.

There's not many reviews for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie just yet, but the ones we've seen thus far are decidedly mixed. That's to be expected, since some people love the randomness of the Adult Swim cartoon, and some people just don't get it. A sampling of the reviews run the gamut, from this guy saying that it's "the most unbearable and unwatchable movie experience I've had this year" to the Village Voice claiming that "narrative's beside the point in a movie created by two guys who gorge on pop culture's high-fat diet and regurgitate it into something approaching...art? Close enough." Slant Magazine toes the line, concluding that "a second viewing with a joint in hand awaits to determine if its fierce comic bombardment means it's either the worst movie ever made or an act of movie-film revolution."

MUSIC: Deerhoof. Some have dismissed Deerhoof as bland or simply weird. Others praise the complex composition of their songs. We just think they're good.

--Got some loonies lying around? They may be spying on you.

You have likely heard the expression that begins "He has more talent in his pinky finger than..." and understood the metaphor as such: a well-used pop culture turn of phrase. However, on Tuesday night we saw a man who in truth has more expression in one finger than most others have in their entire bodies. Standing next to a field of lotus flowers, bathed in white powder and a simple white gown, Ushio Amagatsu enthralled with the smallest, yet most magnificently meaningful, movements in his hands and body at the Paramount Theater's presentation of Sankai Juku's 2000 work Kagemi--Beyond the Metaphor of Mirrors.

If you think it's too early to talk Halloween, you must really hate those Xmas tchotchkes that have shown up in major retailers near you. We, on the other hand, think Friday the 13th is the perfect day to start celebrating.

Jose Gonzalez - Seattlest managed to find entry into the KEXP's live broadcast area featuring Bumbershoot artists. Jose Gonzalez's set was absolutely perfect, the smaller crowd (~30 people) and intimate staging perfect for his one man, one guitar formula. It was funny to watch some of the ladies get swoony over him, and we have to admit we were getting pretty starry eyed ourselves.

Last night, Seattlest was witness to a monumental pop culture event: Ian Bell's Brown Derby Series' interpretation of R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet (Chapters 1-12). Look, if you don't know by now about this epic tale of adultery, berettas, incontinent midgets, and terrible rhyming, we really can't take the time to explain it to you. Just go here, watch all twelve chapters, delight in the so-bad-it's-goodness, and you can thank us later.

Seattlest made it to the opening night of the new Negativland show at Consolidated Works Friday, February 17th. The email invite promised "wine and hors d'oeuvres," but all we could find were these tiny nut bowls of asian cracker mix with wasabi peas (yuck), and the wine was sparkling white (blech), but it was free so who's complaining?

Forget whatever event we recommended in The Stranger for Saturday night. “Catch 22”? You’ve got to be kidding. Not when there’s a movie playing at NWFF that captures the very last authentic moment in pop culture history with 80 minutes of footage from the New-No-Now-Wave Festival in 1979. Ok, maybe there have been a few authentic moments since the powers that be decided that “Alternative” was a musical genre. Public Enemy. Bleach. Uh, that’s about it.

Do you remember the episode of Star Trek where Spock and Kirk had to fight to the death? Sure, it had a bit of a cop-out ending, but the theme to which they fought has ingrained itself into pop culture, as has the vision of these two friends fighting in an unwinnable fight (although Spock won). So what does bringing up this extraordinarily geeky moment have to do with Seattle? Not much to be honest, but the Second Annual Laptop Battle Championship is tonight, and while there likely won't be any spears, ripped shirts, or faked deaths, the music and competition should prove to be no less thrilling.

Last week while driving down Stone Way, hand poised over horn, we were surprised and somewhat dismayed to see that Vern Fonk Insurance had closed shop. However, a quick check at the Fonk site indicated that the office had only moved to a newlocation. As a result, because of Fonk's horn-blowing slogan, we imagine their old neighbors are relieved to have them gone, just as their new neighbors are probably preparing a lawsuit.

It's time for robot rap. Type any URL into this website and it will spit back some automated rhymes. We cooked up the Seattlest Rap, of course: