PopShots

By Glenn McDonald

Digital Downsizing: CD to MP3 the Hard Way

[9.Sep.09] :. When paring down your music collection, is it OK to prune songs off classic albums? An aesthetic (and moral) dilemma...
 

15 Second Theater Presents…

[15.Jul.09] :. PopShots introduces 15 Second Theater -- radically distilled dramatic readings designed to accommodate the contemporary attention span.
 

The Geeks Have Inherited the Earth -– and They Rule It

[5.May.09] :. Geek humor is rooted in a commanding pop cultural and scientific literacy and deployed with a sense of casual authority which one ... must ... obey.
 

Quote-Unquote: Excerpts from Upcoming Oral Histories

[3.Mar.09] :. The use of unfiltered direct quotes gives a veneer of authenticity, and the writer doesn’t have to do much actual writing.
 

Facebook and the Death of Distance

[5.Jan.09] :. Facebook is like having a dozen rolling high school reunions simultaneously, plus grade school, and college, and every summer camp you ever attended.
 

You Think You Know Obama?

[24.Nov.08] :. Internet memes meet political postmortems as we uncover more salient facts about America's next president.
 

Discovery: Washington, D.C.!

[22.Oct.08] :. Tred quietly, carefully with your Tour Guide as we catch glimpses of the fierce and the timid political animals of Washington, D.C.
 

The TrueGeek(TM) Qualifying ExamExam

[4.Sep.08] :. Mushrooming geek chic trendiness has made it difficult to separate the men from the fanboys. Take this quiz to see how authentic you are.
 

Wii Will Rock You

[25.Jun.08] :. On the (Wii) golf course I am a multiracial, broad-shouldered, green-haired punk rock Adonis in a kilt.
 

Zen and the Art of Cramming

[19.May.08] :. You will highlight and underline, memorize and prioritize. And you will not blink.
 

Websurfing, Digital Shorts and Lateral Drift

[19.Mar.08] :. Premium beer + long winter months + national health care = fertile breeding ground for resourceful science.
 

Dear Lost: Lose the Guns

[27.Feb.08] :. The gunplay in Lost shot past the ken of lessons-not-learned in Screenwriting 101 and blasted into an over-the-top Marx Brothers routine.
 

In Defense of the Popcorn Movie

[22.Jan.08] :. Wanna get me off my DVD-lovin' couch and into a movie theater? Then gimme the movies that make me feel like a 14-year-old.
 

Writers – Who Needs ‘em? A Solution to the Writer’s Strike

[19.Nov.07] :. A bold proposal regarding our massive backlog of pop culture artifacts and the potential recycling thereof, ad infinitum.
 

Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

[26.Oct.07] :. Time again for everyone's favorite corporately co-opted Judeo-Christian pagan demon holiday! A public service for procrastinating party-goers.
 

A Chronicle of Higher Education

[5.Oct.07] :. A felonious alumnus provides words of wisdom to the graduating class and sepia-drenched remembrances on the way things were at Higbert Community College.
 

Archeological Discovery!

[21.Aug.07] :. The cause of the Cataclysm revealed? Experts discover new tell-tale artifacts, recalibrate their analysis of American celebrity from the Year 2449.
 

Pop Culture in 17 Syllables

[3.Aug.07] :. In our brave new world of news bytes, instant messaging and dwindling attention spans, the haiku is making a comeback.
 

Summer Must-Reads

[6.Jul.07] :. Let authors Michael Bloomberg, Paris Hilton, John Travolta, and Bob Barker help you through the long dog days of summer with these new, engaging titles.
 

American Family Vacation

[25.May.07] :. Roller coasters are fun, vacations are fun, and parks are fun. So why are vacations at roller coaster parks no longer any fun?
 

An Ugly Trend in Filmmakers

[1.May.07] :. Strapped for cash, aching to free their creative impulse from the grind of the same old story, over and over and over, our best modern film directors turn their talents toward the vastly untapped world of TV commercial-making.
 

Nobody Likes a Quitter

[4.Apr.07] :. Giving up cigarettes – an odyssey of shame, debasement and despair.
 

Send/Receive: The Instantly Regretted E-Mail

[4.Mar.07] :. You know that sick feeling you get when fire off a toxic reply, hit the “send” button, and find yourself peering into the Dark Side of instant global electronic communication?
 

Gadgets Gone Wild

[30.Jan.07] :. The introduction of Apple’s new iPhone prompts a review of that enduring cultural artifact known as The Gizmo.
 

If You Can’t Say Something Nice…

[4.Jan.07] :. Our resident wit offers up the excerpts and highlights from the best celebrity roasts in 2006.
 

The Situational Ethicist

[28.Nov.06] :. In which our resident ethical expert contends: Ethics may complicate, but absolute ethics complicate absolutely.
 

Kids’ TV: A Vast Stygian Wasteland

[30.Oct.06] :. Kinder, gentler, and thoroughly creepy, today’s children’s television is no match for the classics.
 

When Harry Googled Sally

[3.Oct.06] :. A terrifying glimpse of what can happen when modern technology meets Happily Ever After.
 

Discovery: Internet!

[5.Sep.06] :. Join our guide on a tour of the Internet, where stealthy sexual predators, docile digerati, pathetic loners, and vast, roaming herds of the dangerously overinformed roam freely in their habitat.
 

The Lighter Side of Artificial Intelligence

[10.Aug.06] :. The scary-smart 20Q AI project asks: Animal, vegetable, mineral or legendary '70s rock star?
 

Snakes, Planes and the Triumph of Ironic Appreciation

[27.Jun.06] :. Does the Snakes on a Plane phenomenon signal the End of Days in Hollywood?
 

The Trouble with (Net)Time Travel

[7.Jun.06] :. It's the ultimate in entertainment options when Netflix and the time-space continuum collide.
 

You Almost Saw It TV

[3.May.06] :. A behind-the-scenes peek at television pilot programs the networks almost wanted you to see -- until someone got wise.
 

Love the Sport, Not the Sports Star

[28.Mar.06] :. Q: How many professional athletes does it take to screw over a lifelong fan? A: Several thousand, evidently. Thanks, pinheads!
 

The Movie Blurb Game

[8.Mar.06] :. The ultimate in elegant time wasting for the obsessive film fan.
 

The (P)Art of the Prank

[9.Feb.06] :. A desperate inquiry into the madness and methods of practical joking from a frightened young man who really should know better, by now.
 

SupraDeluxe Interactive Reader Edition

[19.Jan.06] :. Our intrepid correspondent answers his fan mail. That which is publishable, anyway.
 

All I Want for Christmas…

[13.Dec.05] :. 'Tis the season! Several modest proposals for Mr. S. Claus regarding studio execs, rock chicks, worldwide revolution, and other gift ideas.
 

Jung and the Restless

[22.Nov.05] :. Fun with media supersaturation as the realms of celebrity and the collective unconscious collide!
 

The Underrated/Overrated List

[2.Nov.05] :. Bringing you the best in arbitrary, uninformed and mean-spirited opinions since 1986!
 

Friendless, Hostile, and Afraid of Soil Erosion

[11.Oct.05] :. In the alien(ating) world of addictive, online communiqués, can anyone hear you scream?
 

The Last Action Hero

[21.Sep.05] :. Indiana Jones is 63 years old, and we're in trouble.
 

We Came! We Game! Get Used to It!

[8.Sep.05] :. 30,000 gamers descend on middle America to dress up, get down, and spook the squares.
 

Grand Theft Autoerotic

[9.Aug.05] :. The notoriously violent video game sneaked in some sex scenes. Now that's naughty!
 

I Don’t Feel Tardy

[21.Jul.05] :. What goes around to the hip, comes around to us all... eventually.
 

Impending Drastic Inevitables

[24.Jun.05] :. At PopMatters, we've seen the future. So . . . want some investment advice?
 

Discovery: Hollywood!

[20.May.05] :. A guided tour of one of America's most protected habitats for endangering species.
 

Orthodontia: A Generation Laments

[20.Apr.05] :. There's a planet full of kind and decent people who, as children, were terribly abused. We were the lab rats and guinea pigs for a nascent industry called orthodontia.
 

TV is a Horrible Bitch Goddess

[23.Mar.05] :. McDonald succumbs, all too easily, to the guilty pleasures of Internet TV.
 

The Curious Case of Mr. SquarePants

[23.Feb.05] :. McDonald vouches for SquarePants' character. He should know, he roomed with him in college.