Borders Perrin Norrander, an ad agency in Portland, put together this amazing video for their annual summer bbq. It’s a hysterical paean to the mullets, front porch toilets, demolition derbies, barnyard animals, CB radios, and possum recipes that made this country great, set up nice and purdy with the Dueling Banjos theme from Deliverance. […]

Fans of The Decemberists, The Kinks, and pop music in general, behold The Happy Bullets from Texas (?!), who bravely flog the dead horse of indie-pop for the enjoyment of oversized children everywhere. Their newest album, The Vice and Virtue Ministry, has been on my headphones all morning. A Proper Rifle Assembly […]

I think I can say with some certainty that municipal television usually sucks. The term brings to mind either Public Access shows featuring aging hippies timing bong hits or crappy video of city council meetings and library events. Would it surprise you to know that The City of Seattle has a municipal […]

There’s a great interview with Terry Gilliam over at Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine where he talks about Tideland, The Brother’s Grimm, Keith Moon, and drops amazing quotes like this one, about battles with Miramax over Grimm’s final cut:
"I’ll say that there is no sense of history in America. And there won’t be any during […]

"Never allow your men to paint flowers or colorful swirls on the sides of their chariots. Nobody likes hippies."
Giggle.
McSweeney’s - Ten Precepts From The Art of War That Never Made It Past Sun Tzu’s Editor.

For the past few days, a group called Bound4Life (sounds like a club for sadomasochistic boy bands), have been picketing the Planned Parenthood on Madison street in Seattle. Rather than stoically taking their licks for democracy, the folks at the clinic have decided to fight back in a clever and proactive manner.
For the duration […]

While Photoshop shenanigans are possible, last year’s reports of dragon sightings in Tibet captured my imagination. The photo shown above was taken by an air traveler over the Tibetan Himalayas, but actual eyewitness sightings were reported too. I dunno, If you count out fakery, what the hell are those things?
I do believe in […]

I’ve been so sleepy and unmotivated the past few days; Dazed and disconnected from reality. I’ve seen and done some cool things this week, but they seem far away, like under glass. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was amazing and I finally bought the Directors Series DVD with Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and […]

By now everybody has heard the sad news about Peter Jennings. Jennings was the only network newscaster in the past couple of decades who put a deeply human face on the news and still managed to convey an air of journalistic integrity. His coverage of 911 gave me a lot of comfort […]

Yesterday Jeff Jarvis asked the internet "What are your 10 favorite TV shows?" I’m not really an obsessive list maker, but I actually have an opinion on this one. Also, this is a opportunity to try out Technorati tags. Here goes…
The Twilight Zone - Never before or since has a show […]

It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me or reads this site that I like comic books.
There’s something about them that really gets to me. They can be as dynamic and iconic as film, but at the same time personal and hand-made. However, when I go to the comic […]

When I was about 10, my deepest fear, aside from Cujo and the evil crate monster in Creepshow, was that a giant wave would come and wash everything away. My dad lived in Hawaii and being stuck on a tiny island must have done a number on my young mind. I think this […]

Where have I been, you ask? The short version is that my day job, extracurricular activities, and physical issues have been keeping me busy; too busy to update Pop Astronaut. I’ve been a huge stress-case the last few days, but am happy to say that the work is done, I feel better, and […]