Kwanzoo Blog Carnival Revolution

Welcome once again to the Kwanzoo blog carnival, collecting the best blog posts on the errata of popular culture.

Romeo takes the top spot this month with a summary of the nervous breakdown and death of Dan Leno, turn of the century comedian who inspired silent comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Stan Laurel.

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Staying In For Halloween? Cheer Up! Fun Abounds Thanks To The Interwebs

Okay, if you’re staying in for Halloween, chances are you’re feeling pretty bad about things right now.  Maybe you’re bemoaning your lack of a social life, or that for some reason all the big events were LAST weekend because nobody saw a weekend Halloween coming.  Maybe all your old friends moved away and got married and you don’t want to be the fifth wheel.  But you know what?  For once, that’s okay, because there’s an unsettlingly large amount of stuff to do, and I’m going to walk you through it.

So assuming you haven’t already ordered a large pizza and settled in for the night with an armload of horror DVDs, I’m going to give you some things to do with a homebound Halloween that won’t get you killed by random Satanists out looking for human sacrifices tonight.

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Watch Daniel Craig in “Archangel” This Saturday

If you’re waiting anxiously for Quantum of Solace on November 14th, you may find yourself a brief respite this Saturday on the Ion network. A BBC production made back in 2005, the three-hour-long Archangel stars Daniel Craig as historian Christopher “Fluke” Kelso, who seeks Joseph Stalin’s secret diary.

The Hollywood Report has seen it: [Read more →]

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Harmonix announces a Beatles game… thing.

Harmonix, better known as the developers of Rock Band, have announced an exclusive deal with The Apple Corps., better known as The Beatles and their various estates, to produce a Beatles-centric music video game. The new Rock Band spinoff-

Wait, it’s not a Rock Band game? Oh. Huh. I guess I just kind of assumed it was.

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South Park–Pandemic 2: The Startling.

Yes, I too am startled, for I finished part two of the two-part Pandemic series.

You know when Matt and Trey have to pull a “To be continued” you know they’re going to have a whole lot of lunacy afoot, and indeed, Pandemic did not disappoint.

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A Very Celebrity Halloween

There are two ways to interpret the phrase “celebrity Halloween costume.” You could be dressing up as a celebrity, or you could be copying a celebrity’s costume. Either plan is kind of lame, but if you’re going to do it, then you might as well do it right. So let me give you some pointers, okay?

1. Do Not Be Amy Winehouse

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EA loses money, lays off 6% of workforce

So, EA announced a big quarterly loss. That’s not big news by itself since the nature of the game industry means investments in big multi-year projects that don’t always pay out steadily. The big news is that they decided to lay off 600 people, or 6% of their workforce.

That’s important because the video game industry is frequently thought of as, if not immune to recessions, at least highly resistant to them.

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Countdown to Quantum: A View to a Kill

As you (should) know, Bond 22, Quantum of Solace, is coming out this November 14th. In honor of this momentous occasion, I have decided to spend a little time each week digging into my James Bond DVD collection and talking about the best and worst of the series up until now. I also like to compare the movies to the source material, when it exists. I find all of this very entertaining, but if you don’t, the scroll button is still right over there. >>>>>

You know, I am sick and tired of having to defend A View to a Kill. Here’s the reality of it: it’s an enjoyable film, not quite as weird as the rest of the Moore canon, and May Day is a good character. I had the same “WTF?” reaction as anyone might when I first saw her, but by the end of the film, I kind of liked her. She scared me, but I liked her.

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Someone’s Desperate Out At The Unborn

It’s the first original Michael Bay production from Platinum Dunes, and it’s a dark sign already.

And no, that’s not my barely-repressed “Bash Bay” instinct expressing itself–that’s my “have you seen what they’re using for a poster”? instinct.

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Barack Obama Sells Himself: Ad Time, Interviews, and a Rapier Wit

The most important thing to be, in politics, is consistent.

Because if you aren’t consistent, they will find out. Claim you’re going to cut taxes, and they’ll find a time when you voted to raise taxes. Come out in favor of nuclear power, and they’ll make it public that you said “nay” to a bill that included this issue. Sell yourself however you want, but for God’s sake, make sure you always sell yourself the same way every time.

Barack Obama has done an exemplary job of selling himself consistently. From the beginning, his rallying cry was “CHANGE!” And that, ironically enough, has not changed. He has portrayed himself as an ordinary man in the extraordinary position of helping us all out, giving us the change we need to make the government truly represent us. No matter what has been leveled against him, Obama hasn’t lost his down-to-earth, common sense way of communicating.

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Popularity: 4% [?]