Linda Holmes http://kacu.org en In Slight Defense Of Miss Utah USA, A Little Bit, With Reservations http://kacu.org/post/slight-defense-miss-utah-usa-little-bit-reservations <p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx7TE7fCkrk</p> Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:36:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 24871 at http://kacu.org In Slight Defense Of Miss Utah USA, A Little Bit, With Reservations When Your Data Is Your Currency, What Does Your Privacy Cost? http://kacu.org/post/when-your-data-your-currency-what-does-your-privacy-cost There was considerable mouth-dropping from publications such as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/opinion/president-obamas-dragnet.html?_r=0"><em>The New York Times</em></a> at initial reports this week that NSA programs are gathering both telephone records and information gleaned from large tech companies like Google and Microsoft. Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:03:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 24521 at http://kacu.org When Your Data Is Your Currency, What Does Your Privacy Cost? Comikaze: Not Just The Other Comic Convention http://kacu.org/post/comikaze-not-just-other-comic-convention You may be familiar with the San Diego Comic-Con, a constantly expanding convention for fans that started as a niche event for comic-book nerds and is now a sprawling pop-culture event.<p>You may not be familiar with Comikaze. The brainchild of Regina Carpinelli, a fan who was unhappy with the cost, ticket scarcity, and changing focus of Comic-Con, Comikaze is a smaller festival that costs $30 for the weekend, rather than Comic-Con's $150 four-day passes. Tue, 28 May 2013 21:15:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 24003 at http://kacu.org Comikaze: Not Just The Other Comic Convention Why Angelina Jolie's Op-Ed Matters http://kacu.org/post/why-angelina-jolies-op-ed-matters Pop culture does not mean celebrity culture; I have perhaps said this more often than anyone you're going to meet. Who dates, who gets a divorce, who has a tantrum, who has surreptitious photos snapped of him by mangy, grim opportunists — these things are not culture of any kind, popular or otherwise, unless there is something else at stake. They are curiosities, and given that we are curious creatures, their pull is not surprising, nor is it new, nor was it invented by the internet, or television, or Americans. Tue, 14 May 2013 16:28:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 23393 at http://kacu.org Why Angelina Jolie's Op-Ed Matters Boston's Art Museums Offer Free Admission To Provide A 'Place Of Respite' http://kacu.org/post/bostons-art-museums-offer-free-admission-provide-place-respite <em>UPDATE, 4:08 p.m.: In addition to the institutions mentioned below, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum <a href="https://twitter.com/gardnermuseum/status/324243859926315008" target="_blank">has announced</a> that admission will be free on Wednesday, April 17. </em><p>At least two art museums in Boston, the Museum Of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art, have announced that admission on Tuesday will be free as a service to a city still dealing with the trauma of the explosions Monday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:29:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 22227 at http://kacu.org Boston's Art Museums Offer Free Admission To Provide A 'Place Of Respite' Big Hair, Big Shoulders And Big Money: Linda Evans On '80s Excess http://kacu.org/post/big-hair-big-shoulders-and-big-money-linda-evans-80s-excess You may find a hint to the era in which you were born (as well as your taste in entertainment) in Linda Wertheimer's clarification that on the '80s nighttime soap <em>Dynasty</em>, actress Linda Evans played Krystle Carrington — Krystle with a K, that is. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:16:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 22141 at http://kacu.org Big Hair, Big Shoulders And Big Money: Linda Evans On '80s Excess Thank G-O-O-D-N-E-S-S: The National Spelling Bee Adds Meaning http://kacu.org/post/thank-g-o-o-d-n-e-s-s-national-spelling-bee-adds-meaning As Eyder Peralta <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/09/176723940/new-rule-spelling-bee-will-now-include-definitions-test" target="_blank">reported</a> last night, the National Spelling Bee has made a big change to its rules.<p>For the first time, the written (or computerized) test students use to qualify for the semifinals and championship finals will include vocabulary questions requiring them to know the meanings of words, not just the spelling. Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:51:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 21976 at http://kacu.org Thank G-O-O-D-N-E-S-S: The National Spelling Bee Adds Meaning Viewer Discretion: Deciding When To Look Away http://kacu.org/post/viewer-discretion-deciding-when-look-away I was out of the house, as it happens, for most of the first half of <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/01/175901141/louisville-players-surgery-a-success-leg-break-shouldnt-end-his-career">yesterday's Louisville-Duke game</a>, and when I got home and looked at Twitter, before I turned on the TV, there was a huge stack of stuff to read, and the first thing that caught my attention about the game was <a href="https://twitter.com/d_fienberg/status/318478027883433985" target="_blank">this</a>.<p>That's Dan Fienberg of Hitfix, tweeting about the grisly broken leg suffered by Louis Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:42:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 21629 at http://kacu.org Viewer Discretion: Deciding When To Look Away Here We Go Again: Leno, Fallon, And Why The Late-Night Wars Are So Boring http://kacu.org/post/here-we-go-again-leno-fallon-and-why-late-night-wars-are-so-boring <p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYzVdv6V5Vs</p><p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXnh4tYpA-U</p><p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq-URl9F17Y</p> Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:48:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 21236 at http://kacu.org Here We Go Again: Leno, Fallon, And Why The Late-Night Wars Are So Boring The Oscars Broadcast, Zooming Way Past Cheeky To Land Squarely On Crass http://kacu.org/post/oscars-broadcast-zooming-way-past-cheeky-land-squarely-crass If you like <em>Argo</em> (which won Best Picture), the movie <em>Chicago</em> (which made a couple of appearances) and jokes about women (which just kept coming), you probably had a substantially better night than the average viewer, who was subjected to Seth MacFarlane's delivery of one of the worst hosting performances in Oscar history.<p>In fact, David Letterman is writing Seth MacFarlane notes of gratitude right now for taking all the pressure off of "Uma, Oprah, Oprah, Uma," the most famous bomb of 1995, and more recent troubled hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway are feeling a little l Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:33:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 20211 at http://kacu.org The Oscars Broadcast, Zooming Way Past Cheeky To Land Squarely On Crass Rubio's Water Bottle And The Authenticity Craving http://kacu.org/post/rubios-water-bottle-and-authenticity-craving <p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w2A0qsgurU</p> Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:59:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 19788 at http://kacu.org Rubio's Water Bottle And The Authenticity Craving Ten Clues That The Zombie Outbreak Being Announced On Your Television Is Not A Hoax http://kacu.org/post/ten-clues-zombie-outbreak-being-announced-your-television-not-hoax <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/02/12/171782346/montana-tv-station-warns-of-attacking-zombies" target="_blank">As reported on Tuesday's <em>Morning Edition</em></a>, KRTV in Great Falls, Mont., was apparently the victim of hackers who broke in and broadcast a warning of attacking zombies. The station now says that it was a hoax, <em>fortunately</em>.<p>But in the future, how can a viewer at home identify a similar alert that really requires immediate action to avoid a very real zombie horde? Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:08:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 19728 at http://kacu.org Ten Clues That The Zombie Outbreak Being Announced On Your Television Is Not A Hoax Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Get Severance: Interview With An Iron http://kacu.org/post/do-not-pass-go-do-not-get-severance-interview-iron Wednesday, <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/06/171265745/the-iron-is-out-a-cat-is-in-as-monopoly-changes-game-pieces" target="_blank">Hasbro announced</a> that it was welcoming a new member of the Monopoly-token family. And because it asked the Internet, it wound up with a cat. (For whatever reason, the Internet was not offered Gotye or a bacon cupcake.)<p>Unfortunately, "rightsizing" the Monopoly token collection meant that as one new token was introduced, one old token had to be ushered out the door, and by popular vote, it was the iron. Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:55:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 19492 at http://kacu.org Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Get Severance: Interview With An Iron That Was A Great Blackout Last Night http://kacu.org/post/was-great-blackout-last-night Great blackout last night, right?<p>It's been clear for some time that substantially more people watch the Super Bowl than have the slightest interest in watching the actual football game. That's why there's such hubbub over the halftime show and the commercials — it gives non-football types something to pay attention to instead of football.<p>But this year, Beyonce put on a perfectly polished but in no way surprising show at the half. Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:46:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 19385 at http://kacu.org That Was A Great Blackout Last Night Choosing Sides: How To Pick Between The Ravens And The 49ers http://kacu.org/post/choosing-sides-how-pick-between-ravens-and-49ers Headlines were circulating last week about how, as <em>Slate</em> put it, <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/29/super_bowl_facebook_data_show_who_s_rooting_for_49ers_over_ravens.html" target="_blank">"almost everybody" is rooting for the San Francisco 49ers</a> over the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's Super Bowl. Sun, 03 Feb 2013 13:23:00 +0000 Linda Holmes 19358 at http://kacu.org Choosing Sides: How To Pick Between The Ravens And The 49ers