Good Sports

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

If you’ve watched the Daily Show in the past couple years, you know that Jon Stewart has taken pot shots at Arbys.  This ad appeared on the Daily Show last night.

Endangered Animals On The Empire State Building

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

This could be cool: TRAVIS Threlkel was standing on the roof of a building on Fifth Avenue and 27th Street looking uptown at his canvas. It’s hard to miss: It’s theEmpire State Building, and on Saturday evening he and his collaborator, the filmmaker and photographer Louie Psihoyos, will project digital light images of endangered species onto the building in an … Read More

GOP Candidate Ted Cruz Weighs In On…. Captain Kirk?

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Popular CultureLeave a Comment

Ted Cruz gets interviewed for The New York Times Magazine and this exchange occurs: You’re also a fan of ‘‘Star Trek.’’ Do you prefer Captain Kirk or Captain Picard? Absolutely James Tiberius Kirk. ** a question or two later ** If you were a journalist interviewing you, what would you ask? Who knows, I might well ask, ‘‘Kirk or Picard?’’ I’ve never … Read More

2015 Emmy Nominations

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

I don’t watch a lot of television, virtually every show I watched this year (“Better Call Saul”,“Downton Abbey”,“Game of Thrones”,“Homeland”,“Orange is the New Black”,“Louie”,“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”,”The Newsroom”,”Orphan Black”,”Inside Amy Schumer”) was nominated. I won’t make predictions about who will win; but I will italicized my HOPES. OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES “Better Call Saul” “Downton Abbey” “Game of Thrones” “Homeland” “House of Cards” … Read More

Ave Maria

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

Ouch. Maria is leaving Sesame Street. In the early 1970s, Sonia Manzano showed up to an audition on New York City’s Upper West Side, wearing a simple dress and “some cheap Indian sandals.” Manzano, then a 22-year-old drama student at Carnegie Mellon University, was asked to play a game that would one day become known by its lyrics: “One of … Read More

Luke Leaves Port Charles

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

Again. Thirty-seven years after first playing Luke Spencer on “General Hospital,” actor Anthony Geary recorded his final episode of the long-running ABC soap yesterday. That probably means nothing to most people under the age of 35.  But trust me, Geary was BIG once.  By the early ’80s, you knew what “Luke and Laura” was, even if you never watched soap operas. Those-of-us-of-a-certain-age … Read More

More Confederate Flag Fallout

Ken AshfordHistory, Popular Culture, RaceLeave a Comment

I want to preface this flag round-up by saying this: although I welcome the removal of the confederate flag from the public (and commercial) square, and while doing so may garner some sniping from the likes of Bill Kristol and Haley Barbour, we must remember that taking down the flag is easy. No matter how good it will be to see … Read More

Duggar <> Dunham

Ken AshfordPopular Culture, Sex Scandals1 Comment

So Sarah Palin wrote this: [fb_embed_post href=”https://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin/posts/10153385009473588/” width=”550″/] I worship this.  And because no Facebook post by Sarah Palin is ever complete without a moment of total monkeyfuck insanity, the best part is where she jabbers, “Such obvious double standards applied to equally relevant stories underestimate the wisdom of the public, discredit the press, and spit on the graves of … Read More

On Caitlyn Jenner

Ken AshfordPopular Culture, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

It’s all been said.  Kudos to Caitlyn (former known as Bruce) Jenner (and congrats on the fact that she broke the record previously held by President Barack Obama by reaching 1 million followers in 4 hours and 3 minutes). Yes, she is very pretty. Yes, the Associated Press did a douche-y thing by using the male pronoun. Yes, now that Caitlyn … Read More

The Duggars Get Softball Interview

Ken AshfordGodstuff, Popular Culture, Sex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Okay, the Duggars.  One word: ugh.  And I could add a lot more to that — about how they’re not really “owning” that their son molested their daughters — but they demonstrated that themselves in an interview with Duggar-friendly Megyn Kelly of Fox News.  Raw Story nails this: There was so much to dislike and be horrified by in Jim … Read More

Catching Up

Ken AshfordGay Marriage, In Passing, Popular Culture, Sex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

The merry month of May is a busy one.  Fortunately, not a lot is happening news-wise upon which I feel the urge to pontificate at length.  However, I few tidbits are worth at least a passing mention: Yay, Ireland for the feckin’ landslide to legalize same-sex marriage.  Significant, I think, in light of the strong Catholic sentiment there.  Seems that Rome … Read More

So Long, Dave

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

It began one day with this announcement by Larry “Bud” Melman: “Good evening. Certain NBC executives feel it would be a little unkind to present this show without a word of friendly warning,… We are about to unfold a show featuring David Letterman, a man of science who sought to create a show after his own image without reckoning upon God. … Read More

Ryan Gosling Eats His Cereal

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

This is sweet. In 2013, a Scotsman and Vine creator named Ryan McHenry started posting a series called “Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal.” The series played off Gosling’s extremely serious mien in so many of his movies; in each Vine, McHenry held a spoonful of cereal up to a televised image of Gosling’s stone face. It was simple and … Read More