Pop Culture Week in Review…In 500 Words | 5/3 – 5/9

That’s right, this week I’m giving myself a challenge: recap the week in pop culture in EXACTLY 500 words. No more, no less. It’ll be quick, and give you a chance to count to 500 to see if I’m lying. I’m wasting words explaining. Let’s go! Read More

22 Pieces of Advice for the 22-year-old Version of Me

This week marks the 3-year anniversary of my move to Los Angeles. I was 22, unemployed, broke, and sort of aimless when I moved here. Now I’m 25 and employed, but barely any less broke or aimless.

If I could go back in time, I’d have some stuff to say to 22-year old Drew. Here’s a bit of it. Read More

“Game of Thrones” Character OR “This American Life” Contributor?

Season 5 of “Game of Thrones” premieres Sunday, April 12 at 9PM on HBO. It’s Game of Thrones is one of the most popular shows in the history of television, and the epic fantasy series has many characters who have become household names for fans of the show.

But there’s something about the “Game of Thrones” character names that sounds familiar. The spelling, cadence, and sheer uniqueness of naming conventions in Westeros reminds me of some of the great names I’ve heard from contributors to the public radio show/podcast, “This American Life.” Sort of like how Hunger Games characters sound like NPR anchors to me.

Don’t believe me? See for yourself – take the quiz below to find out if you can tell the difference between “Game of Thrones” characters and “This American Life” contributors in our name game. Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review: March 21-27, 2015

Pip, pip, cheerio! Our first three pop culture stories this week deal with British celebrities and programs. Er, sorry, that’s programmes (with the emphasis on the second syllable, of course). So this is PorchDrinking Britain, where we spell colour with a “u” and drive on the left side of the road and have a very dry sense of humor and for some reason use vinegar as a condiment.

Some of these stories are American, though, so stay tuned, Yanks! Read More

Pop Culture Bracketology 2015

It’s a tale as old as time. Or, at least as old as March Madness bracketology.

You look over the bracket. You study up on the teams. You consider expert opinions. You even look up Vegas odds for every game. And finally you make smart, well-informed, clever picks for the NCAA tournament. And you enter your bracket into the office/school/family/friend pool.

And the winner of the pool? That one damn entrant who has never seen a basketball game, and picked teams based on which school has the best colors, or what names sound funniest, or even just whatever teams they’d heard of.

The beauty – and agony – of March Madness is that no one can predict what will happen. The race often goes not to the strong or the clever or the patient… but to the random. So here at PorchDrinking, we’ve come up with a very pop-culture way to pick your bracket.  Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review | February 28-March 6

February doldrums are over, everyone! Here we are in March. Summer blockbusters are around the corner. Many great TV shows return in the next couple months (lookin’ at you, Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and Veep)… it’s getting warmer here in LA (sorry, everywhere else in America). It’s reason to celebrate!

Anyway… let’s get started with this pop culture week in review! Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review February 7-13 | This will (maybe) BLOW YOUR MIND

Sorry for the click-bait title. It was tongue-in-cheek. But in nearly 3 years of doing these pop culture week in review posts for PorchDrinking, I’ve noticed that a lot of weeks are very hum-drum… I go through the motions to make the Hollywood news seem sort of funny or moderately interesting. Other weeks, I can’t contain how many stories come out that resonate deeply within me and other pop culture nerds.

This week is the latter. TONS of stuff happened this week that I could barely believe. Let’s get into it. It’s the POP CULTURE WEEK IN REVIEW THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE (results may vary)!!!!! Read More

Dear Hollywood…

Dear Hollywood, California,

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Pop Culture Week in Review: January 17-23

My fellow PorchDrinkers, I am here today to tell you that the state of pop culture is strong. (Hold for applause, standing ovation)

Yes, it’s the week of the State of the Union. Not really a pop culture event in the traditional sense, but try telling that to Twitter. It wasn’t just the President’s address to Congress that made people take notice this week. Plenty of news (well, “news” is a strong word so let’s just call it “stuff”) to cover in this week’s Pop Culture Week in Review. Let’s go.

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Pop Culture Week in Review: December 27 – January 2

Let me be the first to say: welcome to 2015! As your hangover FINALLY fades away, and as you try to figure out how the heck you’re supposed to get rid of a super-dead Christmas tree without leaving zillions of pine needles behind, take a moment to reflect. Not on the past year, I mean. Just the past week. It’s the first pop culture week in review of 2015! Read More

Drew Saves Christmas Music!

Each Christmas you hear holiday songs, new and old
From carols in church to classics by Nat King Cole
But every year, all across the nation
You’ll see NEW Christmas albums in your nearest Starbucks location

Your favorite artists will sing those classics you’ve heard
But every once in awhile, they’re stumped by the words
Give it a listen, and whether you sing or you hum
There’s a few lyrics you might catch that are super-dumb

So this Christmas, PorchDrinking endeavors
To re-write dumb lyrics and make them more clever
We know we’re doing this quite late in the season
But Drew was mad about these lyrics, for some insane reason

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Pop Culture Week in Haiku

That’s right, folks. Two and a half years into doing the pop culture week in review for PorchDrinking, I continue to try to find ways to make the recap of this week’s entertainment news interesting and fresh. And although International Haiku Day (yes, it’s a holiday, according to the internet) isn’t for 4 more months, I think it’s time to get poetic around here. So this week’s stories of celebrity, media, and water-cooler-dom are brought to you in the form of one haiku per topic. Why? I dunno.

Enjoy! Read More

9 Pop Culture Stories from this Week (Cosby-free!)

Why do I always seem to land the PorchDrinking pop culture week in review on weeks where all anyone is talking about is a horrible, gut-wrenching, disgusting abuse of personal rights committed for or against someone in entertainment? We’ll get there. Or maybe I’ll be too depressed to talk about Mr. Cosby. We’ll see. Got a lot of happier stuff to cover in this week’s pop culture week in review!

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Listen to the Serial Podcast. Trust me.

So maybe you’re one of the people who is addicted to the new “This American Life” podcast “Serial,” helping it stay at the top of the iTunes podcasts list. Or maybe you’re someone who has heard about this podcast at the office water cooler or at your local Twitter. In either case, you’ve come to the right spot. I get a chance here to catch you up on one of the fall’s biggest pop-culture sensations and answer your question: “So, like, what IS ‘Serial?’”

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10 Things That Happened In Pop Culture This Week | October 25-31

Had to title it differently this week. A little bit of variety in the titling of these pop culture week in review posts does some good, I think. Speaking of change, some shifts in the world of TV, movies, and celebrity this week. So let’s dig in! Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review: October 11-17

You know the drill, right? Pop culture surrounds us. And this week was no exception. Let’s jump right in to the week in review, PorchDrinkers! Read More

9 (More) Movies Based on Websites & Apps

It’s no secret that media is moving from so-called “traditional” formats (going to a theater, turning on a television when a program is scheduled to come on, etc) to the web. I’ve talked before about cord-cutters – those of us who don’t have cable because we consume our TV and movies on the Internet. And we’re seeing new content on platforms like FunnyOrDie and Netflix instead of in the theaters.

Well… tables have turned a little bit.

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Pop Culture Week in Review: September 20-26

No awards shows this week. No big breaking news. Yes, fall shows are back, but this is a POP CULTURE week in review, not a TV recapping session.

Plus, my computer ate about 800 words that I had written, so I’m doing this late, and I’m doing it dirty. Let’s get started! Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review: August 30 – September 5, 2014

Not a great week in pop culture, I’m afraid. The biggest water cooler conversation of the week happens to be the sad fact that several celebrities had their personal nude photos stolen from their phones and/or iCloud storage. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please don’t go look them up. It’s bad. Anyway, I’ll get to that.

First, let’s start with some happier news in pop culture. Let’s kick off this normal Pop Culture Week in Review, and THEN get into Drew’s recap of Righteous Indignation Week in Review! Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review: August 23-29, 2014

Gonna try to keep it quick this week, Pop Culture nerds. Seven highlights from the past seven days. Our PorchDrinking pop culture team is a bit tired, still exhausted from the long-and-kinda-snoozy Emmys. Speaking of which, let’s start this pop culture week in review with a recap of TV’s biggest night.

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