Pop Stand

JibJab's 2008 Year in Review

The folks over at JibJab have released their hilarious take on the happenings of 2008...

Morning Links: Digital John Lennon image pushes laptop charity

John Lennon, who has been dead for 28 years, appears on a commercial for a charity that campaigns to give laptops to poor children in developing nations. With digital technology, the image of Lennon says, "You can give a child a laptop and more than imagine, you can change the world." His widow Yoko Ono approved the campaign, although the voice doesn't sound much like Lennon's.

Dane Cook's brother, who used to be his business manager, has been charged with three counts of larceny and forgery in connection with thefts from the comedian. Massachusetts State Police said Darryl McCauley forged a check for $3 million and deposited it in his own account.

Jennifer Aniston plans to spend New Year's Eve in Mexico with friends Courtney Cox and David Arquette and their daughter Coco, but beau John Mayer will also be in the resort town, Cabo San Lucas, with his brothers. The places Aniston and Mayer are staying are connected by a private beach, says People.com. Other stars at the resort include George Clooney and Kid Rock.

Also together for the holiday are Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo, who was injured during the Cowboys' loss to the Eagles. After Simpson heard that her quarterback boyfriend had collapsed int he locker room after the game from pain caused by torn rib cartilage, "she got on a red-eye flight" and arrived at 5 a.m., a source said.

Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan are together at South Beach for the holiday as Ronson recovers from the exhaustion that sent her to the hospital  Dec. 21. "Lots of sleep, movies and meals outside of airports will do wonders!" she told People.com.

James Bond Daniel Craig worked up a sweat on the dance floor at a club in St. Barts.

Mia Farrow's daughter Lark Previn, 25, died Christmas day after an illness of a decade. Lark was adopted as a child from Vietnam and was the mother of two daughters, Sara, 13, and Christine, 12. The cause of her death was not announced.

Earl "DMX" Simmons pleaded guilty to three different sets of charges against him in Maricopa County Court. The charges include possession of drugs, theft and cruelty to animals. The rapper is expected to be sentenced to at least 90 days in jail and be prohibited from owning guns or animals.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ.com that someone will be arrested next month and charged with murder in the shooting death of Mark Ruffalo's brother Scott. Two people in the room with Ruffalo when he died from a gunshot to the head have claimed that he was playing Russian roulette.

-- Anne Neville 

A new Oprah book scandal

In October 2007 I reviewed a book for The News called (Not That You Asked): Rants, Exploits and Obsessions by Steve Almond. It is a collection of essays that takes shots at popular culture phenomena, and argues that they are cheapening true art forms, and making our brains mush.

Almond is an unapologetic defender of literature, and wasn't afraid to take on Oprah Winfrey and her vaunted book club, which we've learned has the power to make an obscure author's book into a mega-bestseller.

Below is a portion of my review:

The opening salvo of Steve Almond's collection of essays, "(Not that You Asked)" was a shocker.   

Its title: "Dear Oprah."   

Yes, Almond sets his sights on Oprah Winfrey, who single-handedly can make or break a book, with her influential Oprah's Book Club.   

Almond opens with a "pre-emptive" letter to Winfrey, rejecting her "offer" to make this volume one of her book club selections. It's laced with profanity, insult and the accusation that her commercializing of literature doesn't inspire new readers, it actually cheapens the work and damages the integrity of the medium.   

So why do I bring this up today?

Because Oprah is at the center of another book controversy.

In September 2005, Oprah selected James Frey's memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," as her book club selection. It was a story about his life as a drug addict, his rehabilitation and rebirth. It was a compelling story, for sure, but it turned out that Frey's memoir was a big lie, as exposed by The Smoking Gun web site.

The Smoking Gun's special report in January 2006 exposed and shamed Frey, and led to him being dropped by his publishing company. It also humiliated Oprah, who was forced to address it on her show and apologize to her viewers for leading them astray. She lambasted Frey and swore it wouldn't happen again.

Well, it did.

This week, it has been revealed that the forthcoming Holocaust memoir "An Angel at the Fence" is a big lie too. And we have Oprah to thank for this one as well.

In November 2007, Oprah introduced Herman Rosenblat and his wife, Roma, on her popular talk show, and they told their amazing story.

At the time, Oprah called it "the single greatest love story, in 22 years of doing this show, we've ever told on the air."

It was a fantastical story about Herman being a 12-year-old in a Nazi concentration camp, and how a  young girl brought apples to the barbed wire fence every day, helping sustain him in the inhuman conditions. Herman is eventually liberated by the Russian army, and years later, by some twist of fate, is matched up with Roma on a blind date.

Oprah ate it up, and so did America, so much so that a book was commissioned. "An Angel at the Fence: The True Story of a Love That Survived" was set to be released this February.

Of course, it wasn't a 'true story,' and now Oprah is proving Almond's point once again, having made celebrities of another pair of liars. Only this time it has crossed the line, exploiting emotions behind one of the most horrific chapters in modern history.

The book has been pulled, as is a children's book to be based on the story, as well. And now the Rosenblats are facing scrutiny for their fabricated story.

Does Oprah have a responsibility to investigate her guests deeper when they make such claims?  Does she also have a responsibility to address the Rosenblats and their disgusting fabrication with her viewers, as she did Frey's?

And when making Book Club selections, should Oprah stick to fiction, especially if claims in memoirs can not be documented or proven beyond a reasonable doubt?

What do you think?

-- Dave Valenzuela

Morning Links: Sarah Palin officially a grandma

Sarah Palin is now a grandma. Daughter Bristol has given birth to a son. Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston was born on Saturday in Palmer, Alaska. Gov. Palin's spokesman said, "This office will not be issuing any statements on [Bristol's baby]. We’re here to talk about state government and that matter falls outside of that." Brings a tear to my eye.

Woody Harrelson has tied the knot with longtime girlfriend Laura Louie, in a ceremony Sunday on the island of Maui in Hawaii. The couple have three children together.

Actress Zooey Deschanel has gotten engaged to musician Ben Gibbard, singer of the band Death Cab for Cutie.

Singer Bjork is trading her swan for pantsuit, perhaps, as she is going into business with a bank in her native Iceland, to try to revitalize the nation's sagging economy.  Bjork and Audur Capital will work together to build a sustainable industry, namely green energy, to help the nation of 325,000 which has been devastated and pushed into the red by the global financial crisis.

There is speculation that his infidelity may be pushing Balthazar Getty off the ABC show "Brothers & Sisters." Getty left his wife and kids in July to begin an affair with actress Sienna Miller. Rumors say that Getty alienated many cast and crew on the show with his behavior, and now plans are being made to remove him from the show.

Indy racer Danica Patrick is having trouble keeping under the speed limit on regular roads, after she leaves the track. Patrick's rep has confirmed that she was stopped for speeding earlier this month, after being nailed for speeding over the summer too.

Timbaland has been slapped with a lien by a florist in Miami Beach, Florida, who says the rapper owes him more than $11,000 for Christmas decorations. The White Tulip Florist sold Timbaland trees, flowers and other decorations for $25,850, but says it was only paid roughly $14,000 for them.

- Dave Valenzuela

Morning Links: Are Gisele and Tom Brady engaged or not?

Are Gisele Bundchen and quarterback Tom Brady engaged? TMZ.com broke the news over the weekend, but Tom Brady Sr. says it's "rumor, rumor, rumor," and Gisele's twin Patricia says it's "not true." The star couple were spotted on a stroll in Boston Friday -- and an engagement ring was conspicuously absent.

The latest person to decide she can't stand Heather Mills is her former nanny, Sara Trumble, who says she was forced to apply tanning spray to Heather's naked body, work from 7:30 a.m. to midnight, and was intimidated. Heather's spokesman says she is devastated by the charges and considered Sara "a part of her family."

Paramedics took actress and retired pro wrestler Joanie "Chyna" Laurer to a hospital after she mixed alcohol with prescription drugs while celebrating her birthday at her Burbank home, TMZ says. She was passed out and also had cuts on her arms when friends found her. Reports say she was too intoxicated to have a psych evaluation on arrival. Her manager says when she is released from the hospital she'll go into rehab.

Mark Ballas, who won season six of "Dancing with the Stars" with Kristie Yamaguchi, suffered a groin injury while on tour and will have to sit out "a couple of weeks," he said. He says he hopes to be able to dance again with a celebrity partner when the show resumes in March.

Madonna and soon-to-be-ex Guy Ritchie took separate cars to the Kabbalah Center in London but attended services together. Riding with Madonna was her daughter Lourdes; Guy brought the boys Rocco and David Banda. Later Madonna looked tired and stressed as she headed out to dinner with pal Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband Chris Martin.

Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, says she might not act again. "It's weird because  I've always felt uncertain that acting is what I wanted to do, especially compared to Dan (Radcliffe) and Rupert (Grint)," the other stars of the movies. She says she plans to attend college in the United States in the fall.

Sources close to Tom Cruise say he and his wife Katie Holmes say the FBI has been notified about threats the couple claim to have received from an anti-Scientology group.

The public verbal battles between Lindsay Lohan and her girlfriend Samantha Ronson and Lindsay's dad continued over the weekend, with Michael Lohan accusing Sam of having a bag of prescription drugs, punching Lindsay and selling photos of her to the paparazzi.

-- Anne Neville

Videos that made us smile in 2008

Pop culture, especially the grassroots kind that flourishes on YouTube, has plenty of hilarious snarkiness, from the "FAIL" blog to the Bulgarian "Music Idol" contestant's version of Mariah Carey's "Ken Lee."

But as we get ready to swing into 2009, let's look at a few videos that brightened up 2008. You already know about the famous Hamster on a Piano (Eating Popcorn).

First, The Discovery Channel's "I Love the Whole World," also called "Boom De Ah Dah!"

The second video tells the story of Christian the lion, who was sold in London's Harrod's department store in 1969. Some of the facts in the video are exaggerated -- Christian was in a sanctuary, not the African wilds, when the men saw him again after a long separation -- but the big lion's reaction when he sees his two friends is priceless.

And finally ... a sneaky ninja cat.

Enjoy!

-- Anne Neville

Morning Links: Lindsay, Courtney Love melt down on blogs

It was celeb meltdowns on MySpace blogs for the holidays! First Lindsay Lohan, in a post on her MySpace blog, says her father has told the family that he has another child. "He cheated on my mother and that really sucks," Lohan wrote. Michael Lohan denies her claim and told People.com that there is a "99 percent chance" that the post was written by her girlfriend, Samantha Ronson, with whom Michael Lohan has clashed. In her post, Lohan also says this is the first Christmas she'll be spending away from her family.

On her MySpace blog, Courtney Love lashed out at Robert Kardashian, who she says attacked one of her employees and called him anti-gay slurs in September. She says the police brushed her off when she tried to make a report. The Kardashian family replied, "We are so saddened to hear that someone is blogging this insanity on Christmas Eve. Everything this apparently unstable person writes is obviously untrue and we will forward this terrible nonsense to our attorneys."

It was a low-key Christmas in Nashville for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, who made the holiday special for 5-month-old Sunday Rose. They planned "a lot of hugs and kisses and Christmas carols" for the baby, along with a turtle puppet -- "she loves puppets," Nicole said.

Jennifer Aniston had her traditional Christmas Eve get-together with her friend Courtney Cox Arquette, her husband David and their daughter Coco, 4. They ate at a steakhouse in Beverly Hills, where Aniston enjoyed sole while everybody else had steak. Aniston's beau John Mayer was on the East Coast for the holiday.

After turning over their sons to Guy Ritchie before Christmas, Madonna got together with pals Stella McCartney and Gwyneth Paltrow for some pre-Christmas celebrating.

Looking stony-faced as usual, Victoria Beckham led her three sons and husband into Gordon Ramsay's London restaurant for a festive holiday dinner. Her oldest son wore jeans and her youngest accessorized with reindeer antlers, but middle son Romeo looked sharp in a suit. Posh said she's working on her smile but so far has only managed a smirk.

Actress and singer Eartha Kitt, who recorded the sultry "Santa Baby," died Thursday in New York City, where she was being treated for colon cancer. She played Catwoman on the Batman television series and acted and sang. She was 81.

Shirley Jones' husband, Marty Ingels, is being accused of shoplifting a $500 hat after a dispute with a custom hat-maker over the hat. The store alleges he picked it up and walked out; Ingels says a clerk put the hat in a pile of things he was taking and that he has returned it. There is said to be a surveillance tape of whatever happened.

Ben Stiller is wearing a cast after breaking his wrist in a snowboarding accident. The injury is not expected to delay filming on his next movie, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian."

Track Santa's progress across the world with NORAD

I remember the excitement of watching the TV news on Christmas Eve and seeing the weatherman announce that Santa's sleigh was in the air and moving -- usually over Greenland or Iceland, if I remember correctly.

Today we don't have to wait for the evening news. You, too, can track Santa's path thanks to NORAD, "the U.S.-Canadian military organization responsible for the aerospace and maritime defense of the United States and Canada." On its web site, under the heading "Why we track Santa," the organization says, "Media from all over the world rely on NORAD as a trusted source to provide Christmas Eve updates on Santa's journey."

True!

Just before noon, Santa was in Ban Nape, Laos, and the places he'd already visited were marked with gifts. Many of the spots have either linked photos or videos.

Enjoy, and to all Pop Stand readers and commenters, we wish you a merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year!

-- Anne Neville

Morning Links: Lindsay Lohan, Sam Ronson's pre-hospital battle

Neighbors tell TMZ.com that Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson had a prolonged screaming match at their Hollywood Hills house just before Sam went to a hospital for treatment of what she later said was "exhaustion."

Michael Jackson's spokesman vehemently denies a biographer's report that the King of Pop is suffering from a near-fatal lung disease. "Wild allegations concerning Mr. Jackson's health are a total fabrication," said Dr. Tohme Tohme (yep, that's right) who also claims to be Jackson's "official and sole" spokesman. The spokesman says Jackson is not only fine, he's preparing for "a world tour and a series of specials and appearances."

Also "doing fine" is Shia LaBeouf, who did have a second round of surgery on his seriously injured hand. The operation corrected issues that were not addressed right after the July crash of LaBeouf's truck and a car.

The mercury poisoning that felled Jeremy Piven also affected his Broadway play, "Speed-the-Plow." The show's take was down more than $160,000 from the previous week and the theater was half-full when Piven's understudy performed. Ready to step in today is Norbert Butz, followed by William H. Macy on Jan. 11.

Sharon Stone reportedly called the Beverly Hills Police Department over the weekend after a creepy guy came to her door either trying to deliver a package or offer some kind of service, says TMZ.com. But after being informed that her house isn't in Beverly Hills and she should take her concern to the LAPD, Stone dropped the whole thing, the web site says.

Paris Hilton suspects the hooded guy who walked straight to her bedroom and lifted more than $2 million worth of jewelry in a weekend burglary "definitely has been there before."  She added, "We have some suspects that I'm thinking of," and then appealed for the return of her heirloom items. "They just have to anonymously have a taxi it drop off in my front gate in a box," she suggested.

Because she's not conspicuous enough already, Paris got a new car -- a flashy Bentley custom-colored a bright Pepto-Bismol pink. Brittany Flickinger, the winner of Paris' reality show "MY New BFF," took the $200,000 car out for some shopping.

Jennifer Hudson is scheduled to perform Feb. 6 with other Grammy nominees at MusiCares Person of the Year gala. It might be the first time she performs in public since the murder of her mother, brother and nephew back in October, crimes for which her sister's estranged husband has been charged.

Britney Spears and her sons have a laugh on their adorable Christmas card. Jayden James and Sean Preston sit on Britney's lap and smile in half, then each sport a pair of "Papa's glasses" and cheesy grins in the second version. Speaking of Papa, Jamie Spears will get a raise from about $10,000 a month to about $16,000 a month for acting as her conservator. He'll also collect $1,200 a month more for office expenses, now that Britney's back working.

Madonna flew back to Britain with all her children to spend Christmas with Guy Ritchie. It's her first time back in London since the couple's marriage ended.

-- Anne Neville

25 years of "A Christmas Story": One day to go

   Where's live Colm Wilkinson when you need him? "One more day.... one  day more..."
   Forget it. Put on the Les Mis soundtrack. No! Blare "The Christmas Waltz" with Bob Goulet and Carol Lawrence, in honor of his passing!  Yeah! Wait, has it really been just over a year? 

    OK, calm down. What does one do in the final hours before TBS begins its annual 24-hour "A Christmas Story"?  What did our parents do when we got all wiggly-antsy just before Christmas Eve?  Yeah, they drank, but we meant with us — what did they do with us?  (Apart from the Benadryl Cherry Kool-Aid we mean.) 
   Oh — right! Games! Card games! Board games! See-who-can-clean-their-room-fastest-games! Make-Daddy-a-martini-without-bruising-the-gin-games!   
   Funny. We've been avoiding these things for the past 25 days on the theory that, well, they're lame.  But now, through the gentle mists created by the glorious passing of time, the majesty of the moment and 8 bourbon balls dunked in a goblet of 2002 Casa LaPostolle Apalta Merlot laced with sherry, we now realize they're actually fun as hell, by God — plus, you know what?  Kind of hard! Seriously! And so is walking right now!   
   Never mind. Let's go.

   First, courtesy of TBS, a quiz,  which, listen, isn't the cakewalk you think.

   If you still need to kill time (or wussed out on the quiz), here, get those last-minute gifts  using the movie as a guide. 

   Also, this might not help you right now, because you're not as drunk as we are (OK, fine, you're not drunk at all, pshhhhh), here's TBS's list of how not to unstick your tongue from a flagpole or...anything else metal and freezing:

1. Another tongue
2. Turpentine
3. Anthrax
4. More ice
5. An ax
6. Lye
7. Red Ryder BB gun
8. Hack saw
9. Butter
10. Turkey baster full of gravy

    Still antsy?  Here, talk to your own kind. 

    Or, you could also watch one more classic video and then pack it in.  Makes tomorrow come that much sooner, you know. 

--Lauri Githens Hatch