Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

There are certain things in life that make me very happy.  Dark chocolate is the near top of the list, but dark chocolate and a stack of magazines?  Well that, my friends, is nirvana.  So imagine how thrilled I was to hear about a new Netflix-like service for magazine lovers!  It's called Maghound and you pay a monthly fee to have a certain number of magazines delivered to your house. You can select different magazines each month so you don't get bored with the same subscription and you manage your account online, just like Netflix.  Many of the brain power mags like the New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harpers, etc. are not available as of now, but maybe they'll join in if Maghound takes off.  My guess is The Believer or Oxford American will never be available with Maghound, but that's okay, I don't mind giving them my money.

There is, however, a long list of magazines that are available.  I'm interested in American Photo, Cooking Light, La Cucina Italia, Radar, Travel and Leisure, In Style, Poets and Writers, and Columbia Journalism Review (just in case my boss is reading this!).  There's also all kinds of anthropological research you could do as a Maghound subscriber since there is apparently a magazine devoted to every facet of American life.  Maybe some month, I'll get a copy of Perfect Horse, just to see what's being talked about around the stables (I wonder if they reviewed Equus).  Or maybe I'll dabble in Trailer Life, or Aquarium Fish, or spend an afternoon being scandalized by True Confessions. I mean, the world is our oyster, people!

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

I'm researching documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu because she's going to be on the show in a couple of weeks to talk about her new feature film, Ping Pong Playa.  It's the opening night film for the San Diego Asian Film Festival, which has a great line-up this year.  I'd forgotten that Yu directed one of my favorite shorts, Sour Death Balls.  I screened it for friends some months back and they all seemed to love it so I'll post a version of it from YouTube.  What an ingenious, simple idea.  I love the opening kid - priceless!

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

Bluesmen Ben Hernandez and Nathan James won a San Diego Music Award on Wednesday night for Blues Album for Hollerin!.  We had Nathan and Ben on These Days last year and they killed it on the jug!  Watch the video of their performance - it's really great. 

Apparently a good time was had by all Wednesday night at Viejas Concerts in the Park, where As I Lay Dying, Louis XIV, and Steve Poltz performed for the soldout crowd.  All proceeds from the San Diego Music Awards are used to purchase Taylor Guitars for San Diego County schools - which is totally cool.  A total of $41,327 was raised this year from ticket sales, sponsorships and donations!  A list of the other winners after the jump:

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

Cap'n Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket, founders of Talk Like a Pirate Day

Hey y'all, time to get your pirate on.  It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  This special holiday was invented in 1995 by Ol' Chumbucket and Cap'n Slappy (aka John Baur and Mark Summers) during a racquetbal game.  Exhausted and tired, one of them yelled out "Aaarrr!" which inspired the official day.  September 19th was chosen because it was one of their ex-wive's birthdays so it was easy to remember.  Since then, media coverage of the holiday has continued to grow.  With our financial markets imploding and one of the most important elections ever on the horizon, the media has ignored International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Leave it to me to pick up the mantle of silliness and make sure we don't ignore this questionable American tradition!

Here's a translator where you can type in any text and it will come back in pirate speak.  The wonders of these internets never cease to amaze me!  Here's what the first sentence of my post would look like if I had a peg leg and an eye patch:  Arrr, hey y'all, time t' get your pirate on. Gar, Where can I find a bottle o'rum?

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

I've said this before...why don't our commercials seem as clever or poetic as those from other countries?  Maybe it's that old maxim about grass being greener and I'm overlooking quality U.S. advertising work.  One thing is for sure, the grass sure does look greener from inside these clear, inflatable, bouncing balls, courtesy of a cell phone ad in Australia.  "Can you hear me now?" may have infused its way into the cultural lexicon, but is it as dreamy?  Not a chance.

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

If you're not aware of Christian Lander's website Stuff White People Like, then you need to spend some time there browsing, grimacing (in self-recognition) and giggling.  Lander also has a book out called Stuff White People Like, which is a collection of his blog posts.  Basically, Lander identifies the cultural behavior and practices of white people based on what they like and then pokes fun at it.  I should say, he tends to focus more on the priviledged or middle class in white America and he LOVES to go after hipster culture. For example, Lander writes about why white people like dinner parties, modern furniture, girls with bangs, and... public radio!  What makes it genius, of course, is that by just identifying the behavior, he is turning the tables on white folks, who have long thought of themselves as the purveyors of ethnic behavior.  How white people define other groups has been the dominant narrative in our culture and Lander's website flips the switch.

A recent post titled Appearing to Like Classical Music is pretty funny.  He suggests that a lot of white people only pretend to like classical music.  What I like about this post is the way it points out that the value of high culture (symphonies, operas, museums, etc) is a cultural construct.  If we go to the symphony every weekend, we must be cultured.  The motivation to appear cultured is driven by class and social ambition.  Just because an arts event is packaged in an institution or tradition of high art, it is assumed to have worth and immediate cultural cache.  Of course, many great works of art do happen in those spaces, but they're happening in other cultural spaces as well. 

An excerpt from Lander's post:

If a white person starts talking to you about classical music, it’s essential that you tread very lightly.  This is because white people are all petrified that they will be exposed as someone who has only a moderate understanding of classical music.  When a white person encounters another white person who actually enjoys classical music (exceptionally rare), it is often considered to be one of the most traumatic experiences they can go through.

Hilarious. 

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

The Old Globe's The Women is now on stage and the Globe sent me some pictures of the finished gowns and dresses.  It's amazing to see what they've come up with after seeing the costume sketches and all the work that goes on in the costume shop.  These dresses are incredible!  The play runs from September 13th through October 26th.

Kate Baldwin as “Mary Haines” and Kathleen McElfresh as “Crystal Allen,” with cast members behind in THE WOMEN; photo by Craig Schwartz.

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

The Old Globe is competing with Hollywood this weekend as each launch what I'm assuming are very different versions of The Women.   Hollywood gives us the big studio backed version of The Women starring Meg Ryan and her hair (ummm, Shirley Temple anyone?), Annette Benning, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Mendes, and Debra Messing.  Honestly, it looks awful.  But here in our own backyard, The Old Globe offers the stage version of The Women, directed by Darko Tresnjak, who has an affinity for comedies of decades past and says this play is the grandmother to contemporary comedies like Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City, and Gossip Girl. 

There's also a classic movie version from 1939, directed by George Cukor,  starring Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell and Joan Crawford.  If you haven't seen it, march on over to your computer, fire up the Netflix and add it to your playlist. It's a hilarious satire and catty romp through the lives of well-bred (mostly), but not well-behaved women in Manhattan high society.  Now, while you wait for the DVD to arrive, you can march (lots of marching) over to The Old Globe and see the stage version.  The Women was a play first, written by Clare Booth Luce, a playwright, turned editor, turned congresswoman.  She wrote the play as a biting commentary on her own social set in 1936 - it's an all-female cast, so you might say she put a portion of that social set under the microscope.  The story revolves around Mary Haines and her female friends, a group of women who gossip, snarl, marry, divorce, have affairs, talk about men and each other, and change their clothes.  It was a smash hit on Broadway, but since the popularity of the classic film, it's not staged all that often.  The classic film has, however, become a cult favorite with gay men.  Next time you go to Rich's, just toss out the term "jungle red' and you'll see what I mean.  Jungle red is the nail color worn by many of the women in the play/movie and becomes a code word for the gossip mill that feeds this well-dressed ecosystem.

There are lots of reasons to see this play, not the least of which is the witty dialogue. But one of the draws is undoubtedly the clothes -- the glorious, 1930's skirts, gowns, gloves, hats, jewelry, and shoes!  The Globe's costume department has been working like mad to create over 65 costumes for this production - and there are only 15 actresses!  That's a lot of costume changes.  There are around 25 wigs in the show, along with lots of hats, shoes, jewels, and handbags.   I visited the costume shop in the early days of the project, when the costumes were at the sketch stage and just beginning to be assembled.  I spoke with Darko and costume designer Anna Oliver about how they approached the costumes for some of the characters.  I also snapped some shots inside the costume shop.  Here's a behind-the-scenes look... I can't wait to see the finished products.   The Women goes into previews this Saturday, opens next Sunday, and runs through October 26th.

Click the image above to view the slideshow in a popup window.

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer in a scene from True Blood.

Last night, I watched the premiere of Alan Ball's (Six Feet Under, American Beauty, upcoming Towelhead) new HBO drama True Blood.  If the first episode is any indicator, we're going to see lots and lots of teeth-bearing vampire sex.  Ball is clearly interested in vamping up (sorry) the whole dirty-sexy-dangerous aspect of the vampire/mortal dynamic. While erotica has always been a staple surrounding vampires in pop culture, the depiction of graphic sex usually takes a back seat to the spookiness, violence, or (as in the case of Buffy), ass-kicking.  The sexual aspect is subtext, implicit in the act of vampirism, but rarely materializing because the vampire is often "satisfied" first.  The more graphic deptictions of vampire sex are the purview of B-movies and adult entertainment.

With True Blood and the censor-taunting HBO, vampires in pop culture just got a little freakier. 

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

Hot Lixx Hulahan beat out 20 challengers from around the globe to become the world's champion air guitar player.  The championship takes place in Finland and an American hasn't won since 2004.  Apparently, Hot Lixx has dominated the US competitive field for a couple of years.  Now he's shredded his way to world domination.  What a rock star.