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Pedro and the Watcher ~ Just another Freedomblogging.com weblog

Archive for the 'Pop Culture: Fun' Category

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Michael Jackson fans in O.C. to ‘Thrill The World’ on Saturday

October 23rd, 2009, 5:55 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

thrillerblog

Orange County zombies! Put down your brains and head over to Anaheim on Saturday for Thrill The World, the annual celebration of Michael Jackson and the iconic undead dance from his “Thriller” music video.

Every year in dozens of cities, fans of Jackson and the Thriller dance gather to perform it simultaneously around the world. This year, after Jackson’s sudden death in June, organizers are predicting a much bigger turnout than in the past, with organizers saying they hope to set a world record for the largest simultaneous dance ever.

“With the passingof Michael Jackson, the number of zombies who have registered to perform has just exploded,” said Jeff Allen, Thrill The World Orange County manager, in a press release about the event.

The performance takes place at 5:30 p.m. at the American Sports Center, 1500 S. Anaheim Blvd. in Anaheim. The public is welcome to come and watch for free, though the event is also part fundraiser for cancer research and treatment at the City of Hope.

Didn’t have time to learn the dance? Don’t be blue, zombies, there’s also a zombie pub crawl taking place Saturday in Newport Beach, with drink specials for those dressed as the thirsty undead.

Thank you for your attention, zombies, now you may go back to your brains. 

It’s close to midnight and something’s lurking in the dark…

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Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • Pop Culture: Fun • • | 1 Comment »

Is ‘Auto-Tune The Kitties’ the new best thing on the Internet?

August 26th, 2009, 11:28 am by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Well, that’s a tough one, because if Pedro loves one thing on the Internet you all know it’s “Auto-Tune The News.”

That said, Internet kitty stars  plus Auto-Tune are pretty meow-tastic.  If one of this kitties would bust out a good “shawty” we might just lose our mind. Check ‘em out:

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See how wonderful that was? But to be fair, we’ve put the  August edition of “Auto-Tune The News” at the bottom of this article, so carry on and decide for yourselves: Kitties or cable news, which goes best with our favorite vocal gimmick?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • Pop Culture: Fun • Pop Culture: Video • • • | Post a Comment »

TV host Rossi Morreale to emcee charity bachelor auction in Irvine

July 21st, 2009, 3:24 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

rossimorreale02blogFirst all, let’s make this perfectly clear: Rossi Morreale, that’s him pictured at the left, is NOT in the DateAHero.com bachelor charity auction set for Saturday, July 25.

But once you get over the fact that Morreale, host of ABC’s new  ”Dating In The Dark,”  is just the auction host, cheer yourself up with this fact: the men on the block at the Hilton Irvine — Orange County Airport Hotel are all pretty good-looking themselves.

And, where Morreale has a cushy TV gig that no doubt comes with hair and makeup artistry, these guys are all potential heroes: firefighters, police officers and military service members.

 DateAHero.com is a Web site started by Huntington Beach firefighter Bryan Russell and his wife Jennifer Tarantino, whose friends constantly asked her whether Russell knew any cute single firefighters with whom she could fix them up.

The bachelor auction — billed on the Web site as a “Man Sale” — will offer up a variety of hero types, with some of the proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project charity.

Auction ticket packages are either $19.99 or $39.99 depending on the ameneties including, and are listed as for “women only.” Separate tickets for a singles party after the auction are available to women and men and are $10.

Further details on the event and tickets, go to DateAHero.com/events.

More on pop culture:

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Got what it takes to be a Bollywood star?

July 10th, 2009, 11:17 am by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

bollywood1medium1The success of “Slumdog Millionaire” gave many their first taste of Bollywood, though to be certain, a watered-down Western view of Indian film industry that can often be wildly over-the-top.

Still, it’s hard not to want to sing along when “Jai Ho” comes, no?

So to celebrate (and capitalize, we suppose) on this new-found popularity, Saavn, a major online site for for Bollywood entertainment, is hosting a contest to discover the next big Bollywood star, and you, dear reader, can audition for it Sunday afternoon in Lakewood.

The auditions take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Naz 8 movie theater, located at 6440 South St., Lakewood. All you need to do is show up, pick a famous Bollywood song from a karaoke machine, and sing it while being videotaped. The videos will be uploaded to Bollystar2009.com, where viewers will vote to determine the finalists.

If you can’t make it, you can still enter the contest by sending your own video to Bollystar2009.com, though if you come in person you do get a free Bollywood movie ticket and a $5 gift card to download some tasty Bollywood songs from Saavn.

Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • Pop Culture: Fun • | 2 Comments »

Make the Cold War Kids play what you want them to play!

May 21st, 2009, 12:00 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

coldwarkids0328kas21Cold War Kids, the Fullerton-born indie rock darlings, have a fun new toy for you: an interactive music video where you get to more or less produce the session.

Hosted at this spot on MTVMusic.com, the band plays “I’ve Seen Enough” on screen.

Instead of just a music video, though, the you get four different color-coded  soundtracks for each of the four Cold War Kids.

Ssay you want drummer Matt Aveiro to get up from behind his kit and only play the tamborine — click the blue bars above his head and that’s exactly what happens.

Give it a whirl and find your favorite CWK sound.

Or play the Pedro mix: guitarist Jonnie Russell on the blue track for the vibes; singer Nathan Willett on blue for the acoustic guitar; drummer Matt Aveiro on green for the drum machine; and bassist Matt Maust on red for the electic bass.

Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture: Fun • Pop Culture: Video • • • • | Post a Comment »

Is ‘Auto-Tune the News’ the best new thing on the Internet?

May 18th, 2009, 12:48 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Why, yes! Yes, it is!

First, you do too know what Auto-Tune is: The pitch-correcting/pitch-altering software is that sound Cher employed on “Believe” a few years back and which T-Pain brought back in a big way over the past year.

And we’ll assume that you know what the TV news is. Please, Lord, let them still know the news!

‘Auto-Tune the News’ just puts it all together. The Gregory Brothers – musical comedians? comic musicians? — running the talking heads, pundits and pols on TV news shows through Aut0-Tune, cutting themselves into the clips as needed to add lyrics, music and all manner of wonderful stuff.

The results in the first installment was solid, the second even better. The third one, just out, is even better perhaps:

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Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture: Fun • Pop Culture: Video • • • | Post a Comment »

Q: What if Japanese anime actresses had invented punk rock?

March 5th, 2009, 1:43 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A: No one would listen to punk rock, is our best guess. (Though Pedro would.)

From the bizarre corners of YouTube comes one of the odder pieces of Japanese pop culture we’ve seen lately — and if you know your J-pop culture, you know that’s saying something.

“Pun-Colle” is the title of an album of classic punk rock songs covered by Japanese anime actresses — what, you thought we were kidding? — and it’s really, um, something to hear. Makes Chipmunk Punk sound like a real work of art, we’re thinking.

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In the above video you get snippets of covers including of the Clash (’White Riot,’ ‘London’s Burning’), the Ramones (’Blitzkreig Bop’), Iggy and the Stooges (Search and Destroy’) and Blondie (’Call Me,’ which actually doesn’t sound ALL that different from the original).

You also get — Orange County alert! — the Offspring’s ‘Pretty Fly (For A White Guy). Full songs as YouTube clips are available on the poster’s profile page, so if you’re brave, feel free to experience what it would be like if instead of Dexter Holland you had Mai Kadowaki as frontman, er, frontwoman — front cartoon character? — for our local heroes.

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Posted in: Music • Pedro • Pop Culture • Pop Culture: Fun • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Razzie Awards set to honor the worst of Hollywood again

January 5th, 2009, 6:10 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Yes, yes, the Golden Globes are just around the corner, but c’mon, it’s easy to be honored for a good movie — everybody loves you, they tell you how wonderful you are, you get a swanky bag o’ schwag.

So pause for a moment to consider what it’s like to be up for a Golden Raspberry — a Razzie, if you will — and hung out for all the ridicule your bad work on screen might earn you.

Nominating ballots for the 29th annual Razzies, the creation of Cerritos resident John Wilson, are out this week, and among those included as possible Razzie winners are a few stars with O.C. ties.

Will Ferrell, pictured at left with ‘Step Brothers’ co-star John C. Reilly, is up for Worst Actor for that movie and ‘Semi Pro’ combined.

To see the other O.C. actors who might get nominated, and our pick for the worst of them all — hint, she really shouldn’t be considered an actress at all — read on…

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Posted in: Pedro • Pop Culture • Pop Culture: Fun • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Kitten With A Wig!

March 4th, 2008, 2:26 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

kittywig11.jpg…Or if you prefer, Faster, Pussycat! Wig! Wig!

Now if you’re like Pedro, you probably always thought your kitty looked just fine the way she was. But that was before Kitty Wigs came along and rocked our feline fancy!

Now your purr-fect pal can dazzle in wigs with names like Pink Passion, Silver Fox or Electric Blue. They’ll run you $50, but that does include shipping, a metal wig box and a donation to the ASPCA.

If you hurry, you can always win a Kitty Wig in a photo contest to pick the best bewigged cat — details to be found here.

Or, if like Pedro you’re currently feline-free, just enjoy the photos — like this Bashful Blonde model you’ll find when click here….

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The Friday Time Waster, No. 1

July 20th, 2007, 7:00 am by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Newsbreaker screen grab 

Pedro knows how hard it is to concentrate as the weekend nears. Not that it’s hard for him, mind you. Just that he’s heard about others, and feels bad that they don’t have his legendary powers of concentration.

So feel no shame if you need a little break from the grind as Friday rolls around. And MSNBC.com has created a way for you to waste a little time AND keep up on the news at the same time.

It’s called NewsBreaker and it’s more or less an updated version of the old ’70s arcade game Breakout. You bounce a ball off bricks lined across the top half of the screen, using the paddle you slide back and forth across the bottom to keep it in play.

Periodically, headlines from MSNBC.com fall with the bricks. Catch those with the paddle and earn points for longer play. The headlines collect in a box on the side and once your game is done you can click and read whatever stories catch your fancy.

The game is fun for awhile on your computer, but looks even more entertaining as a game played live by a theater full of people before a handful of recent movie screenings. You might look a little goofy but it sure beats sitting through those endless advertising slides you usually get.

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.

– Pedro

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