Category Archives: Popular Culture

From celebrity watch to quirky things in the news, we have something to say about it here at the Families.com Popular Culture Blog.

Queen Beatrix Announced Abdication

Royal families have been in the news the last few years.  Two years ago, Prince William married Kate Middleton.  Last year, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Diamond Jubilee.  That’s celebrating sixty years on the throne for us Yanks.  And this year, there was the joyous news of a new royal baby. Now, there is a bit of royal news coming out of the Netherlands.  Queen Beatrix announced her retirement this week.  Unlike England’s Queen Elizabeth, who is still going strong at 86, Queen Beatrix is a youthful 75, but announced that she would abdicate her thrown on April 30th, Queen’s Day. … Continue reading →

Lance Armstrong Comes Clean to Doping

The other night, I was in bed, looking for something to watch on television.  I know, I know, experts say you shouldn’t have a television in your bedroom, but I find it comforting to watch a little before I go to bed. I was channel surfing when I came across the Lance Armstrong interview on OWN.  I didn’t realize this was the first airing and I am not a huge cycling fan, but something compelled me to watch. It has already been leaked to the media that Armstrong would confess to using performance-enhancing drugs to Oprah, but I wanted to … Continue reading →

Manti Te’o and the Girlfriend that Wasn’t – Part 2

So by now, you’ve probably heard all the jokes going around about Manti Te’o and the dead girlfriend hoax.  They are calling it “Te’oing.” When I last blogged, I told you about the tragic story of Te’o’s girlfriend who died last year in the middle of football season of leukemia.  The only thing is she wasn’t real. This week, he and Notre Dame both released statements saying Te’o was the victim of a “sad and very cruel deception.” Now the questions are – who did this and was Te’o in on it?  The “who did it” seems to point to … Continue reading →

Manti Te’o and the Girlfriend that Wasn’t – Part 1

Oh, as if my Notre Dame Fighting Irish haven’t suffered enough indignities due to their National Championship romp by the Crimson Tide, now a scandal has surfaced involving one of it’s most popular football players. Manti Te’o, in case you don’t know, was the Irish star linebacker.  A senior, he was nominated for the Heisman Trophy (he lost to Johnny Football) and no doubt coming off an undefeated season, was looking forward to all the NFL had to offer. Then, the bruising at the championship.  As if that weren’t enough, Te’o is now the center of a hoax scandal.  Through … Continue reading →

Golden Globes: Did Jodie Foster Come Out?

Last night’s Golden Globes was a great night of pretty dresses, good jokes, lots of drinks, and a few odd moments.  I have to lump Jodie Foster’s speech under the odd category. The actress (who I think is absolutely incredible at her craft) received the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award.  She walked on stage looking stunning – the blue dress was beautiful and matched her eye color perfectly.  She looked gorgeous and young, but reminded the crowd she was 50. The speech itself was rather scattered to me.  She seemed to ramble about her age … Continue reading →

No Inductees for Baseball’s Hall of Fame

Ah, baseball – it is said it’s America’s favorite past time.  However, this year, there will be no joy in Mudville because for only the second time since 1971, no former Major League Baseball players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It’s not because the ballot wasn’t full of talent.  No, quite the contrary.  Among this year’s nominees were Barry Bonds, the all-time leader in career home runs (with 762).  Roger Clemens, an 11-time All-Star, two-time World Series winner, and 7-time Cy Young Award winner, was also on the ballot. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were there too.  … Continue reading →

Kim Kardashian is Pregnant

I almost hate to write this blog because I am not fond of the Kardashian family nor their empire.  I don’t understand how any of them got to be where they are (sans Bruce Jenner) or how they stay there.  I briefly watched an episode of their reality show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and am certain my IQ dropped during those few minutes.  I think Kim’s 72-day marriage to Kris Humphries was a total sham on her part.  I am still not sure if he was in on the moneymaking marriage or not. But, news is news whether I … Continue reading →

In Memoriam 2012 – Part 6

And, this is my final installment of the blog of famous people we lost in 2012, even though we still have one day left in the year: October 2012 10 – Alex Karras – Kidney Failure (77) Karras came to fame when he played in the NFL, but he had a second career as an actor.  He appeared in Blazing Saddles and starred as the father in “Webster.” 13 – Gary Collins – Natural Causes (74) Collins co-starred in “The Wackiest Ship in the Army”, “Iron Horse,” and “The Sixth Sense” as well as guest starred in many shows during … Continue reading →

In Memoriam 2012 – Part 5

The list of those we lost in 2012 continues: August 2012 6 – Marvin Hamlisch – Respiratory Arrest (68) Hamlisch was an American composer and conductor who was part of the elite EGOTs – someone who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award.  He also won a Pulitzer Prize and two Golden Globes. He composed the theme song “The Entertainer” for The Sting and “The Way We Were” from the Barbra Streisand film. 14 – Ron Palillo – Heart Attack (63) Juan Epstein wasn’t the only Sweathog (“Welcome Back, Kotter”) that was lost this year.  Ron Palillo played … Continue reading →

In Memoriam 2012 – Part 4

More of the famous people we lost in 2012: June 2012 2 – Richard Dawson – Esophageal Cancer (79) Dawson was a regular on “Hogan’s Heroes” but may be best remembered as the host of “Family Feud” for ten years and as a panelist on “Match Game.” 5 – Ray Bradbury – Unknown (91) Bradbury was one of the best selling fantasy/sci-fi/horror/mystery writers of the 20th century with novels such as “Fahrenheit 451” and “The Martian Chronicles.” 26 – Nora Ephron – Pneumonia (71) Ephron was a screenplay writer and you may have heard of a few of her movies … Continue reading →