With $32.4 million worth of box-office receipts, Dear John officially toppled Avatar after seven weeks at No. 1. Why was it Dear John and not last weekend’s Edge of Darkness? Maybe it’s the alluring power of Kleenex. A Nicholas Sparks novel-turned-movi …
Sometimes I enjoy Facebook. I’ll admit it. Social networking can enhance our regular face-to-face friendships and provide a way to stay in contact with friends who live overseas or out of state. Facebook’s fun because friendship is fun—and research eve …
Boredom. We don’t often talk about it unless we’re, say, standing in line to get sci-fi convention tickets. (I haven’t experienced this, but a friend just went through a lot of rigmarole to get them for her fiancé. In my book, that is primo, divorce-pr …
One of my friends e-mailed the other day and said, “So … you the one who gets to review Conveyor Belt of Love?” (I could almost see her grin and chuckle at me.) Nope, I’m not reviewing it. But she did alert me to it, so of course, I watched—and l …
I can carry a tune in a bucket, but not far. One of my great-grandmothers was an opera singer (without the cool spear and Valkyrie horns on her head, unfortunately). Her range was upward of four octaves. My range, however, is probably a measly five or …
Today marks the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons. Whether you like the Fox show or hate it, you can’t deny that it’s infiltrated our culture. And thus, our language. D’oh! Maybe it’s because I’m the resident geek who’s collected dictionaries since she …
My first thought was, Eww. She looked dirty. Like her hair was matted and could have used a long visit with Head & Shoulders. Then there was that huge nose ring. I hadn’t seen many pierced nostrils before—and only “bad girls” did it then—but Christ …
Last week, Virginia couple Tareq and Michaela Salahi allegedly crashed a state dinner in honor of India’s prime minister. The Salahis—who also are said to have invaded the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Awards Dinner—claim they were uncertain …
Fast-forward this fierce film past its vicious and violent bits and you’d end up with about the equivalent of a TV sitcom. Not that these ninjas are a laughing matter.
Last month on a flight to the West Coast I sat next to a young woman who’d just gotten her Ph.D. in sociology. She was also a Christian, and like me, she’d spent serious time overseas. But unlike me, she was appalled by how American women are “marginal …
After cutting her teeth in NYC nightclubs, the now superstar Lady Gaga is trying to “out Madonna” Madonna on the pop scene. So will her second release, an EP titled The Fame Monster, become … infamous?
If American Idol didn’t make Adam Lambert a household name. His S&M-infused performance at the American Music Awards did. So just how far does he take things on his debut album?
You never know what’s going to come out of John Mayer’s mouth next—when he’s talking or singing. So we were eager to investigate whether Battle Studies was more thoughtful introspection or an unapologetic nod to obvious vice.
