A Tale of a Roux and a Rue

February 8, 2010
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A Tale of a Roux and a Rue

The CBS sports commentator who concluded, “Tonight the City of New Orleans embraced football,” doesn’t know the first thing about television reception. On Superbowl Sunday 2010, viewers saw how a football team has embraced a city and its culture for decades.
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Talk about a bait and switch. The Tebow Super Bowl ad left me hyped up for more hype.

February 7, 2010
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Talk about a bait and switch.  The Tebow Super Bowl ad left me hyped up for more hype.

After weeks of controversy and speculation, Focus on the Family's 30-second Super bowl spot featuring Heisman Trophy-winner Tim Tebow was as decidedly uncontroversial as CBS claimed it would be.
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A Post against “post-“

February 7, 2010
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A Post against “post-“

Why the term "post-network" needs to be cancelled.
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Life Unexpected Not Up to Expectations

February 6, 2010
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<i>Life Unexpected</i> Not Up to Expectations

Life Unexpected isn't living up to my expectations. I plan on holding my breath for improvement, though--I am hopeful that the network and producers will figure out where they want to go and follow the natural lines of the premise of this story.
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Is There Room for Narrative Complexity in News about Politics?

February 5, 2010
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Is There Room for Narrative Complexity in News about Politics?

Stewart praises Fox News for presenting a clear and simple narrative, and chastises Obama for his lack of the same. Citizens need stories, even in politics. But do they have to be so simple in an age of complexity?
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5 Thoughts on Teen Mom

February 4, 2010
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5 Thoughts on Teen Mom

Does it matter if Teen Mom, a documentary-style MTV series that completed its first season last week, provides an inaccurate picture of teen parenting in the U.S.?
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When Lost Said “Both”

February 3, 2010
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When Lost Said “Both”

Some quick thoughts about the season 6 premiere of Lost - spoilers abound!
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What Do You Think? The Oscar Nominees

February 3, 2010
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What Do You Think? The Oscar Nominees

Now that you've seen the list, what do you think of the idea of having ten nominations for Best Pic? Who was robbed? Who did the robbing?
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Hollywood Stars and the Death of the “Adult Drama”

February 2, 2010
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Hollywood Stars and the Death of the “Adult Drama”

Why are we currently experiencing what one filmmaker has called “the lowest point since cinema began”?
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Style Blogging and Retail Fandom

February 2, 2010
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Style Blogging and Retail Fandom

The women of the style blogging communities consciously use fashion to shape their identities, form connections with one another, and define particular iterations of contemporary femininity.
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What Does It Mean To Care About The Grammys?

February 1, 2010
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What Does It Mean To Care About The Grammys?

Clearly, people are once again watching the telecast, even if one cannot be certain that most viewers ‘care’ about the popular artists and their music in the same way that they did in days gone by.
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Miss Marigold on Miss America

February 1, 2010
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Miss Marigold on Miss America

On Saturday night, 23 year-old Caressa Cameron became Miss America 2010, earning $50,000 in scholarship money, a really big crown, and an even bigger anachronistic title.
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The Tester

January 31, 2010
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The Tester

Sony's new reality TV program on the PlayStation Network continues to raise questions about audience/player (mis)perceptions of labor and production in the games industry.
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What Are You Missing? January 24-30

January 31, 2010
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What Are You Missing? January 24-30

Ten things worth checking out online from this past week; feel free to add more in the comments section.
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Egregious Product Placement: The Biggest Loser

January 30, 2010
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Egregious Product Placement: <em>The Biggest Loser</em>

Subway. 24 Hour Fitness. Extra sugar free gum. Ziploc. Muir Glen organic canned tomatoes. NBC's The Biggest Loser is the home of some of the biggest product placement deals on television.
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Look at Your Hands: Computing, Embodiment, and the iPad

January 28, 2010
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Look at Your Hands: Computing, Embodiment, and the iPad

While much of yesterday’s Internet conversation centered on whether the iPad is a game changer for TV, gaming, publishing, and future of ebooks, I want to address the potentially unnerving aspects of how Apple constructed the user yesterday and point out that while Apple may be a global company, its users are definitely not.
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