Daily Archives: May 23, 2014

4 posts

Are Watermelon Oreos Racist?: A Thought Piece

Today seems like a good day to talk about race in America. (Every day is a good day to talk about race in America.) I saw Watermelon Oreos in the checkout line at Target yesterday. They made me feel weird. Is it the idea of the taste? The possible hydrogenated oil-mealy watermelon mouthfeel? Or…

Are Watermelon Oreos racist? I evaluate the evidence below. Continue reading

What Will You Watch This Fall?

The challenge for network television to gain more eyeballs is even more daunting than ever. Pay-TV, Netflix, Hulu, and other live-streaming vehicles have upped the ante when it comes to television programming. There are just so many places other than the big five to see good tv. So what’s a network to do when the competition is steep and there’s everything to lose with shows like Game of Thrones, The Americans, American Horror Story, Orange is the New Black, and Fargo taking over the game — release a new fall season full of shows that they hope will finally find resonance with audiences who are looking for audacious, risk-taking programming. Can the networks deliver?

Well, they can certainly try. Below we’ve listed a few of the shows that seem worth checking out. Note: We’re only discussing shows that are totally new here. That means, “We’re not talking about NCIS: Let’s Wear Our Leisure Suits to the Park to Feed the Pigeons or CSI: Cyber Crime in 2014 or Wow, the Internet.” You can look at those things on your own time. Continue reading

Weekend in Review: Hangout Fest

Hangout-Fest-1s Hands down music festivals are my favorite type of concert (well, except for the FREE concerts featuring an artist you actually like). You spend one chunk of money for multiple days of music. If we go way back to 1997, my first concert was also a festival, albeit it only lasted one day. My next few experiences with festivals was as an employee. For Jazz Fest and Essence Fest in New Orleans and then a few years later for Lollapalooza in Chicago. Continue reading