MamaPop™

Gold's Gym, Wall Street Journal Plumb New Depths Of Female Body Micromanagement

July is almost over and yet nobody told me about Cankles Awareness Month until today. All month I could have been collecting pledges, doing walkathons and writing blog posts about this devastating condition plaguing U.S. women, but sadly I have only two days left to do my part to spread awareness. Did you know that a horrific condition called "cankles" (wherein one's ankles appear to have no clear definition from one's calves) is ravishing the nation, condemning countless women to a life where espadrille sandals and capri pants are but a mockery of their hideously and freakishly deformed lower leg regions? 

Adios, Gidget

Gidget, the chihuahua who became a star in those ubiquitous Taco Bell commercials, has died from a stroke at the age of 16. I've never written a tribute to a dog, but I felt like this one had to be written. After all, with all the Carne Asada Chalupas and Burrito Supremes I've scarfed down over the years, Gidget's death feels like a major passing (no pun intended.) Sort of like how some of you KFC eaters might have felt when Colonel Sanders kicked the bucket (again, no pun intended.)

Would You Buy Clothing (or Anything) from Jon Gosselin?

I imagine that going as a douche for Halloween has to be one of the easiest and most accessible costumes, considering that all one needs to do is to purchase and wear Ed Hardy gear and voila!

It always amuses me how anyone can consider t-shirts and ballcaps "fashion." It's a T-SHIRT. Also, wearing a t-shirt with tattoos on it is not the same as actually having tattoos. Just saying.

I guess if this is your market, it makes sense to hire Jon Gosselin to work for your brand.

Make Mine a Montage

For the second time this year, a sports team in my home city, Pittsburgh, won a major championship and provided me with at least a week of sports-related good mood when the Pittsburgh Penguins brought home the Stanley Cup. Of course, the win itself was awesome and capped off a truly exciting season and getting to celebrate has been terrific. But one of the best parts of a big sports event are the montages. I. Love. Montages.

Sharon Osbourne's IRS Problems are Taxing

Sharon Osbourne is many things. She is a promoter, a reality television star, married to the Prince of Darkness, an author, a talk show host, a cancer survivor, a mother, one of the 25 richest women in Britain and a tax evader.

I'm thinking those last two probably go hand in hand, because  if you owe over $435,000 in back taxes you must be making some bank.

I'm 36 years old and I feel confident that I haven't paid $435,000 in taxes in my entire career as a taxpayer.

Did I tell you what kind of fine $436,026 in back taxes will land you?

Hammer Pants Flash Mob FTW

The early 90s were a weird time in the U.S. We were emerging from the ickiness of the 80s and the 90s spread in front of us, full of possibility and the promise of a new millennium. The optimism of the that time was a breeding ground for trends like Hypercolor (why have a shirt that's just one color when it can be multiple colors depending on who's fondling your boobs?), wearing clothes backwards (Reagan's gone! I'm totally Krossed out!), and, of course, Hammer pants (it's the 90s! Let's get billowy!).

Hammer pants were brought to us by super-positive rapper MC Hammer, whose career became a cautionary tale of quick fortunes when, just six years after the mind-boggling international success of his album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, he filed bankruptcy due to being $13 million in debt.

My Favorite Testosterone-Fuelled Commercials of Playoff Season

I don't think anyone has ever accused me of being a "girly girl." I'm only marginally interested in make up and I hang out with dudes a LOT. Much of our conversation is peppered with phrases like, "yer mom," and we watch sports and grunt and bump chests and it's grand.
As I've documented very well on this site, I get irked when commercials aimed at women (or men) are condescending or just plain silly and beat on the dead horse of traditional gender stereotypes. However, there are a few commercials that I've seen during the Stanley Cup playoffs that certainly play into those stereotypes. But they're so funny, I just have to give them a hand for cracking me up. (By the way: GO PENS!)

Gillette Takes Manscaping to a Another Level

File this under: DUDE.

Gillette has posted a series of instructional videos designed to show men how to shave their ... areas. There's How to Shave Your Armpit, How to Shave Your Back (ew), How to Shave Your Head, How to Shave Your Face, and How to Shave Your Chest.

The video below is my personal favorite, How to Shave Your Groin, only because it cracks me up to think that a bunch of suits encircling a boardroom table decided to kick the video off with this little gem: "When there's no underbrush, the tree looks taller."

Just Say Avada Kedavra To The New Harry Potter Trailer

As in DIE, new trailer. As posted here, there is a new trailer for Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince that makes the story seem like a romantic gigglefest. AU CONTRAIRE!!!! "Half Blood Prince" is a wicked serious book, and for it to be publicized as a fluffy goof piece is not only disingenuous to the material, it's also completely stupid. Watch the trailer and then I'll tell you why.

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE after the jump!

You're Gonna Love My Nuts

That's all. And you're welcome.

Look at me, I'm multitasking! I'm dang near multitasktastic! Huzzah!

Sooooo you might have heard by now that I've gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over this Dollhouse show, to such a degree that I'm practically harassing the internet about it. The internet might have to take a restraining order out on my ass, in fact. I mean, I am after all a documented stalker. BOO! FEAR ME!!!!

Oh c'mon, please? sigh.

But to give credit and/or blame where credit and/or blame is due, I watched almost all of Dollhouse entirely by way of Hulu.com, that new-fangled TV on the internet thing all the kids have been talking about. And it's really quite remarkable. TV! On your computer! It's like we're living in the 21st Century or something!!! Oh, wait...

Like, OMG! MamaPop has a first look at our original mascot Kelly's newest video before it's released internet-wide  -- HERE! NOW! WE R SPESHAL, DAMMIT!

But wait, there's more! And it involves giving you guys FREE STUFF. Yeah, you heard me. Go on, TELL ME YOU LOVE ME.

The Discovery Channel's new show, Pitchmen, is semi-revolutionary for two reasons: 1) we get to see the inner workings of infomercials and regular commercials for those kooky "As Seen on TV" products and 2) Billy Mays speaks at a normal volume.

YOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! SOME PEOPLE ARE LETTING KANYE BE GREAT!

About a year ago, Woody Allen sued American Apparel for using his image on their billboards without his permission. Things have since gone downhill.

The point of PSAs is to be provocative. They're meant to be seared into your mind, so as to get their point across. I can recall PSAs from my childhood that I can still describe in detail over 20 years later. But that's the idea. We're supposed to remember them.

But a new British PSA is coming under fire for being "too violent." It stars Keira Knightley as a version of herself, who returns home to an abusive boyfriend after a day of filming. The ad, which is under the cut, is very graphic and potentially triggering, but does a PSA ever "go too far?" Some critics have made the argument that indeed, some are too visceral, too disturbing for the viewers.

But I think that's the whole point.

Warner Bros has released the second poster for Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are on Yahoo.com. Can you tell we here on MamaPop are just, oh, a wee bit excited about this movie? What, did all the OMG OMG OMG-ing and SQUEE!-ing give it away? Uhhh yeah.

Ze new poster after le jump!

Hulu Ate Mah Braaaaains PLUS Kelly Video Winnahs, Ahoy!

Look at me, I'm multitasking! I'm dang near multitasktastic! Huzzah!

Sooooo you might have heard by now that I've gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over this Dollhouse show, to such a degree that I'm practically harassing the internet about it. The internet might have to take a restraining order out on my ass, in fact. I mean, I am after all a documented stalker. BOO! FEAR ME!!!!

Oh c'mon, please? sigh.

But to give credit and/or blame where credit and/or blame is due, I watched almost all of Dollhouse entirely by way of Hulu.com, that new-fangled TV on the internet thing all the kids have been talking about. And it's really quite remarkable. TV! On your computer! It's like we're living in the 21st Century or something!!! Oh, wait...

Premiere Of Kelly's Latest Video "What R U Guys Talking About?"

Like, OMG! MamaPop has a first look at our original mascot Kelly's newest video before it's released internet-wide  -- HERE! NOW! WE R SPESHAL, DAMMIT!

But wait, there's more! And it involves giving you guys FREE STUFF. Yeah, you heard me. Go on, TELL ME YOU LOVE ME.

BILLY MAYS HERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT HIS NEW SHOW, PITCHMEN

The Discovery Channel's new show, Pitchmen, is semi-revolutionary for two reasons: 1) we get to see the inner workings of infomercials and regular commercials for those kooky "As Seen on TV" products and 2) Billy Mays speaks at a normal volume.

Kanye West Track Selected as Official Soundtrack of 2009 NBA Playoffs

YOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! SOME PEOPLE ARE LETTING KANYE BE GREAT!

Woody Allen and American Apparel in Legal Fisticuffs; Pop Culture Writer Utterly Confused

About a year ago, Woody Allen sued American Apparel for using his image on their billboards without his permission. Things have since gone downhill.

WTF? Keira Knightley's Anti-Domestic Violence Ad Labeled "Too Violent"

The point of PSAs is to be provocative. They're meant to be seared into your mind, so as to get their point across. I can recall PSAs from my childhood that I can still describe in detail over 20 years later. But that's the idea. We're supposed to remember them.

But a new British PSA is coming under fire for being "too violent." It stars Keira Knightley as a version of herself, who returns home to an abusive boyfriend after a day of filming. The ad, which is under the cut, is very graphic and potentially triggering, but does a PSA ever "go too far?" Some critics have made the argument that indeed, some are too visceral, too disturbing for the viewers.

But I think that's the whole point.

"Where The Wild Things Are" Second Poster Released

Warner Bros has released the second poster for Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are on Yahoo.com. Can you tell we here on MamaPop are just, oh, a wee bit excited about this movie? What, did all the OMG OMG OMG-ing and SQUEE!-ing give it away? Uhhh yeah.

Ze new poster after le jump!