Lauren

650 posts
Lauren "AKA Spirit Fingers" likes to talk about entertainment, politics, the news, the world, you know, the awesome stuff that makes us say, "Holy Crap! That's crazy...but I love it." Got a message, a writing gig, or need a freelancer? Email me at: [email protected] or find me here @CrassLauren.

20 Year-Old College Dropout Thinks Alternate Experiences Beat Going to College, Encourages Students to “UnCollege”

20 year-old Dale Stephens dropped out of school in the 5th grade because he was bored. In his observation, school wasn’t really a place for learning — it was a place to discuss Pokémon. Determined to embrace his idea of learning he then created his own curriculum in lieu of a formal education. In subsequent years he’s gone on to build a library in his hometown, live in France, and work in Silicon Valley — despite having dropped out of school again. This time college. He now runs uncollege.org, a site for those seeking unconventional education, and has just published a book Hacking Your Education: Ditch the Lectures, Save Tens of Thousands, and Learn More Than Your Peers Ever Will, that tells millennials college isn’t the only way to gain success — it’s all about experiences outside the classroom.

Is this notion a stroke of simplistic genius or detrimental? Continue reading →

Could Horse Meat Disguised as Beef Be On Its Way to the U.S.?

With the news that the world’s best place to get trapped in a maze full of Swedish furniture constructed with wooden dowels and spirit gum, IKEA has suffered the indignity of having their famous meatballs tainted by horse hide. Oh, the shame of having one’s reheated frozen meatballs accursed by a non-beef product! America immediately wanted to know if their American IKEA Swedish meatballs were safe — well, as safe as a place that puts pink slime in their meat can be. Continue reading →

Sorry Former Onion Staffers, Calling a 9-year Old the C-Word Isn’t Funny

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Last night The Onion sent out a tweet about 9-year old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis wherein they called her a “cunt.” We can only imagine this resulted from being an adorable little kid who was totally enjoying her run as an Oscar contender? Or because picking on kids who bring puppy purses to high profile events is all the rage now? The CEO quickly apologized, but some former staffers believe that it lowers The Onion‘s integrity to, you know, apologize for being a ginormous jerk to a little kid. Continue reading →

The Hollywood Caller: Patton Oswalt to become Television’s Next Big Puritan-ist

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Patton Oswalt, funny human, will show us his “Salem Side” on the small screen; Star Wars gets another pair of Rockports; Julian Fellowes probably can’t multitask; Smash‘s Dramaturg got turdulent; Ke$ha thinks things apparently; Shia LaBeouf realizes that crashing robots are more fun than the whole thespian thing; Russell Crowe still has vocal chords. Continue reading →

Hiring Downton Abbey Employees Marks New Wealthy New Yorker Trend

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For some, watching the PBS series Downton Abbey about an aristocratic English family and their bevy of house servants isn’t just a way to piddle away the hours on Sunday nights. Oh, no. Metro New York reports that with the success of the show some of the super-rich would like to make changes to their needs in domestic staffers and hire their own Mr. Carson or Anna, the lady’s maid. Continue reading →

The Today Show Marks the End of the Harlem Shake Fad… We Hope

You know when your parents start mimicking some new thing all you kids have been doing? They do it horribly and are just patently bad at looking cool or interesting while wobbling their bodies, or gyrating their hips, or making weird slack-jawed faces, yet this doesn’t stop the enthusiasm from giving them a boost of confidence that seems unquenchable? Yeah, well, this happened on The Today Show this morning in a Valentine’s Day segment that mashed all of the above. This is when you know it’s over, folks. Continue reading →

What Can You Do With An Oscar Anyway?

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We’re rapidly approaching Hollywood’s biggest night. The one that’s supposed to mark one’s career as really, really important in the movie industry, and with the pomp and circumstance leading up to Oscar night already beginning to churn and bets in full swing as the nominees begin the “For Your Consideration” parade — what’s an Oscar really worth in Hollywood capital these days?

At the big Oscar nominee luncheon a few days ago we got a little glimpse into what the nominees are thinking thus far. We gather now that Pre-Oscar-watching is a thing that we do in preparation for the live event, like any good award-rubbernecker, we’ve got to hear about what the nominees are thinking while they walk the red carpet to go eat goose liver salad or whatever they serve at an Oscar nominee luncheon. Ergo we have already placed value on the words of “to-be” Oscar winners. Things like: Continue reading →