MamaPop™

Things that Make You Go, "Whoa!"

It's a holiday here in the U.S., which means that there are many grills being fired up and many beers being consumed. Besides the obvious memorializing that takes place today for all of soldiers who gave their health and/or lives in war, it's not a day for heavy thinking. Er, well, at least not for me. So, I present to you some really cool pictures.

Kick Off Your Morning With Some Controversy!

Or, Random Stuff From All Over That Will Either Get You Really Annoyed Or Maybe Just Tired, Either Way, You Better Go Refill Your Coffee

Mormons are angry with Big Love: Next week's episode features a scene depicting a sealing ceremony -- a sacred, closely-guarded secret of the faith -- in the Temple. (Via Queerty)

"And You Thought Grand Theft Auto Was Bad": Japanese rape simulation video games! Guaranteed to make you weep for humanity and maybe decide that your kid begging to play Candyland for the 400th time is not such a bad thing. (Via Jezebel and Slate)

Lindsay Lohan is launching her own spray tan line: Save me from the orange people! (Via People)

The bartender who inspired "Cheers" has been laid off after 35 years: He's "not bitter, he's just the 'casualty of the economic situation that we're in.'" Oh, man. Somebody needs to FIX IT! (via USA Today)

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

We Covet The President Elect (+ Unicorns) As awesome as Barack Obama is, you know what would make him even awesomer? UNICORNS.

We Covet Skirts That Induce Flashbacks You're kind of seeing tracers, aren't you?

We Covet a More Direct Fudge Delivery System Some day, there will be a fudge IV. Until then, there's this.

We Covet Toys That Fire Projectiles Okay, so we don't covet all toys that fire projectiles. But this one's pretty cool...

And much, much more. Tally up all the spare change you have from returning all those hideous holiday sweaters and check it out. Because you deserve to covet.

College Reunion Leads to Recording Deal For Straight No Chaser

I am not a Christmas person. At all. I don't have a tree in my living room, I hate the mall with a passion even during the off-season, and I hate — HATE — holiday music with a fiery passion. So I'm a little surprised myself that I find myself delighted with a group that got famous for singing a quirky rendition of the most obnoxious of all Christmas songs with the exception of "The Little Drummer Boy:" "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

However, the real story is not the song itself, but rather the tale of how, over ten years ago, a bunch of college choir geeks formed an a capella group called "Straight No Chaser", then reunited ten years later and uploaded their reunion performace to YouTube, where it received over 8 million hits and led to a recording deal.

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

Giveaway Of The Week! We Covet Non-Mom Jeans You think there's no such thing as non-mom jeans that fit the post-partum mom? Think again...

 

Cookbook We Don't So Much Covet Think twice before you click over to this one. Trust me.

 

We Covet Camera Phones That Are More Camera Than Phone It's not an iPhone, but iPhones don't produce print-worthy, gallery-quality photographs, now do they? Life's too short to send bad pictures.

We Covet Strange Carafes Maybe not the best holiday gift for your MIL, but then again...

You -- yes, YOU -- should be a We Covet subscriber. By subscribing to the We Covet newsletter, you'll get the best of We Covet: our monthly picks, subscribers-only giveaways, exclusive discounts, and all sorts of other goodies delivered right to your inbox! Convenient, no?

How can you NOT be coveting? GO NOW! COVET!

10 Things From 2008 That Made Me Forget How Much I Hate Everything Else

Yeah, you know, we do a fair amount of kvetching and bitching and raging here at Mamapop. Either popular culture is just all around sinking to a Speidi level of irritainment...or all the writers here are a bunch of old cranky old cranks who have nothing better to do than wave our virtual rakes at everything that pisses us off.

I dunno. Tough call, there.

But! In the spirit of the season and the fresh hope of a new year, here are 10 things that made me supremely, sublimely happy in 2008:

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

 Giveaway Of The Week: Shiny Pretty Jewelry We Covet! You like pretty rings? We got pretty rings!

And! MOAR GIVEAWAYS! Discovery Store Week of Giveaways on We Covet! We have a whole WEEK of giveaway awesome! Including:

A talking globe - Discovery Store Talking Globe We Covet

A recycling studio - Discovery Store Paper Recycling Studio

And a voice-activated biometric safe - Discovery Voice-Activated Biometric Safe

You -- yes, YOU -- should be a We Covet subscriber. By subscribing to the We Covet newsletter, you'll get the best of We Covet: our monthly picks, subscribers-only giveaways, exclusive discounts, and all sorts of other goodies delivered right to your inbox! Convenient, no?

How can you NOT be coveting? GO NOW! COVET!

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

Giveaway We Covet Cushie Baby Mats Let your baby play on any surface with abandon!

We Covet Sparkly Bags These sleek and modern bags are wearable works of art that use traditional crochet techniques using recycled aluminum pull-tabs.

We Covet Dry Dry soda comes in "rhubarb": tart, yummy, natural, and only 50 calories a bottle.

Clever Mug We Covet If you're like me and find it difficult to function in the morning before your first cup of coffee, this mug may speak to you.

We Covet Products That Make Us Say, "Huh, Maybe That Whole Recession Thing's Just a Bunch of Baloney" Thank you, Crate & Barrel, for making me feel all better about the state of our economy.

Knockout Accessory We Covet A great gift for that friend or loved one trying to overcome the big stuff in life. Remind them they're a fighter!

Also? Subscribe to the We Covet newsletter & win a Peek mobile prize package!

You -- yes, YOU -- should be a We Covet subscriber. By subscribing to the We Covet newsletter, you'll get the best of We Covet: our monthly picks, subscribers-only giveaways, exclusive discounts, and all sorts of other goodies delivered right to your inbox! Convenient, no?

And holy moly, this month we have a faaaaabulous giveaway just for our active newsletter subscribers -- a Peek mobile prize package valued at $120.00!

CHECK IT OUT, YO.

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

GIVEAWAY: We Covet A Superhero Of A Printer You think I'm kidding about the superhero bit? WRONG. We're giving away one Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer -- a printer the likes of which you haven't seen before. (Giveaway ends Monday, so get on this one pronto!)

We Covet Toy Nostalgia Thrill your favorite young boy-child (or, in my case, husband-child) with this 70s flashback: The Evel Knievel Dare Devil Set. It's back, baby! YEAH!

We Covet Gifts for the Skater Boy (or Girl, Woman, Man, etc.) Multitasking turf surfers look out!

We Covet Super Awesomest Bag Ever The Nirvana Bag? It warrants a full-out, fangirl-shrieking rave.

We Covet Take-Out-Inspired Porcelain This stuff is just amazing.

We Covet Dresses That Leave Us Cold They call this dress the Eastern Ice Shift, perhaps because you're destined to freeze your ass off if you wear it anytime this season.

Needlepoint Noun We Covet These pillows are simultaneously tongue in cheek and a true priorities reminder for a sofa or snuggle spot.

PSST! Don't forget to join the WC newsletter for a chance to win a super awesome Peek mobile email prize package!

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

GIVEAWAY: We Covet A Superhero Of A Printer You think I'm kidding about the superhero bit? WRONG. We're giving away one Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer -- a printer the likes of which you haven't seen before.

We Covet Coolest Coffee Mugs I tend to stick to plain white coffee mugs, myself, but I could be talked into coffee mugs that allow me to come up with my own design or message and change it as the mood strikes.

DIY Dollhouse We Covet A dollhouse that inspires a child's imagination, rather than an intense greed for more accessories?  Check

We Covet iPhone Outfits Did you like to dress your Barbies in a new ensemble for every outing with Ken?  Did you accessorize your childhood Swatch with various and sundry Swatchguards?  Here's the adult version:  iFrogz cases for that fancy iPhone!

 We Covet What Happens When You Cross An Airstream Trailer With A Silver Cross Pram If this isn't just the most awesome thing that you could stick your baby in, ever, then I don't know what is.

Also? Subscribe to the We Covet newsletter & win a Peek mobile prize package!

You -- yes, YOU -- should be a We Covet subscriber. By subscribing to the We Covet newsletter, you'll get the best of We Covet: our monthly picks, subscribers-only giveaways, exclusive discounts, and all sorts of other goodies delivered right to your inbox! Convenient, no?

And holy moly, this month we have a faaaaabulous giveaway just for our active newsletter subscribers -- a Peek mobile prize package valued at $120.00!

CHECK IT OUT, YO.

 

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

GIVEAWAY OF THE WEEK: We Covet Milky Mellow Win one of two different products from this purveyor of "tees and accessories for lively happiness."

Adorable Ponchos For Kids We Covet  It's like wearing a great big comfy blanket, fer crissakes!

We Covet Modern Art Mornings  How civilized it would be to pour the milk and pluck the sugar cubes with this sophisticated stainless steel set?

We Covet Optimism Maybe if you write with a pencil that says you have charisma everyday, you WILL have charisma.  Give one to everyone you know.

We Covet Snakes on a Frame How could I resist that one, seriously?

We Covet Dem Bones Quite apart from the potential startle factor, these bone-shaped salt and pepper shakers are actually kind of lovely, in their own paleontological kind of way.

FINALLY, today is the final day you can be entered in our SUBSCRIBERS ONLY giveaway of a Sony DPF-V900 9" Digital Photo Frame valued at $249.99!. Go HERE for more details!

I Have Been Summoned To Bring The Funny, And It Has Been Broughtened

Joel McHale, MamaPop Patron Saint of the Absurd

Whoa! Hey everybody!!! And how are you today? Good? Little down? Crippled with abject horror at recent news, finances and politics? Finding yourself with the urge to start beating people down with flaming baseball bats covered in angry bees? WELL. Do I have the post for YOU! So dry those tears of anguish/rage/panic and get ready to El Oh El with your old pal, Miss Banshee.

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

Giveway! Paper Goods We Covet We're giving away a prize pack from ecojot worth $50.00!

Bonus Giveaway! We Covet Funky And Eco-Friendly Tees We're giving away funky and eco-friendly tees for kids!

We Covet New Ways To Freak Out Your Loved Ones That's assuming, of course, that your loved ones don't have head-to-toe tattoos.

We Covet Happy Hats I'm picturing my kid wearing one of these adorable hats and I can't help thinking of the The Monkees' theme song

We Covet Zombies on the Wall...and Braaaaaiinnnsss GRRRRR ARRRRGGGHHHH DROOOOOOOL BRAAAAAIINNNNS DECAAAAAAAALS!

Space Age Polymer Baby Bib We Covet Silicone - it's not just for boobs and blini pans.

And? Become a subscriber to our newsletter by October 31st and be entered in our SUBSCRIBERS ONLY giveaway* of a Sony DPF-V900 9" Digital Photo Frame valued at $249.99!

This Week In Covetousness

Join us over at MamaPop's sister site, We Covet, for better living through consumerism! A taste of this week's goodness:

GIVEAWAY: Mod Pet Prints We Covet Win one of two supercool fine art prints!

Lampshade We Covet Oh Anthropologie, why must you torment me so?

We Covet Haircare Products That Make Us Hungry Now that I've discovered Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk shampoo and conditioner, I can't stop wanting to eat my hair.  No kidding.

We Covet Scary Halloween Cakes Tasty and frighenting!

We Covet Geeky Drinking Vessels Need to restart, end some processes, or open your body's task manager? Get some ctrl alt del cups!

Royally Cool Bag We Covet Who could resist a bag that is oversized, shiny, studded, and embellished? With A CROWN, no less!

We Covet Vampire Bevvies Because, you know, blood just doesn't keep all that well, and also, where are you going to get your hands on it for those last minute get-togethers or drink-soaked Twilight-worship rituals?