Cup of Snarky

The attraction of a place usually comes from a unique combination of mysterious and known factors.  For a good long time now, Vancouver has been a remarkable magnet for artists and professionals from all over the globe.  Every day there are new arrivals, looking to rent an apartment and settle in to call this place home, at least for a little while.  Although there are plenty of obvious reasons that the city has such a pull, there are certain indefinable traits that play a larger part.  It may have to do with a Canadian national character, if there can be such a homogenous thing in such a multi-dimensional place, and some of the clues might come from television.

It’s always interesting to see what kinds of local cultural productions will transfer over borders.  For Canadians, it’s not a surprise that SCTV and the Kids in the Hall have had such a success with the neighbors to the south.  The great shows are sometimes the exception, as far as the locals are concerned, because there is a pretty substantial history of mediocre programming.  But these shows have a way of working their way into the various rivers of culture and subculture to find ways of making the every day seem hysterically funny.  The English-speaking world doesn’t see these kinds of incisive comedy shows very often, and when they do show up, they are put under a terrible scrutiny.

The years have been very good to these particular shows, and because of them, there are more Canadian characters on US-based shows.  Dave Foley was probably the big cross-over artist, having been a member of Kids in the Hall before joining News Radio.  It’s also partly a matter of time, when there is more easy interchange between the countries, and more interest in living in either place on the part of the other.  Young people in US cities do find themselves looking at sites like www.rentstarlight.com and considering living elsewhere, because of the representations in the media as well as positive experiences from others.

There may have once been a kind of foreign-ness between the countries, and perhaps there’s still a touch of it, but these days this has been replaced by a familiarity and respect that is turning into a mutual admiration.  There are enough cultural differences to keep things interestingly spicy, and similarities to keep an easy exchange of cultural productions and living situations.

Alabama, called “the Heart of Dixie,” is a state that is steeped in the subculture of the Southeastern United States. Quite a few famous Americans were born right here in the middle of the Bible Belt, including Courtney Cox-Arquette, Kate Jackson, Nat King Cole, Paula Poundstone and Jim Nabors.

TLC’s new television show, Extreme Couponing, has been a huge hit. This show revolves around “couponers” who collect massive amounts of coupons and get hundreds of dollars worth of products for a couple of dollars. These women spend countless hours during the week perusing through newspaper inserts, online coupons and some even go to the extreme of dumpster diving for coupons.

Each person has their own system and method of couponing, some have rooms full of newspaper inserts while others use a binder with baseball card dividers to organize their coupons. When first watching the show, these people seem crazy, let’s be honest who wants to stand in line with a whole binder full of coupons and argue with the clerk as to whether or not you can stack manufacturer coupons with store coupons. Once you start watching though, it becomes fascinating. These women literally get hundreds of dollars of groceries for pennies, it’s hard to even fathom that there are that many coupons available and that they can all be combined.

Another thing that becomes apparent while watching the show is the amount of organization these people need to make sure they buy all the correct items at the correct time. These people have a very methodic system in which they utilize formulas and mathematical equations to know exactly how much money they expect to spend and save.

Because of this show, coupon has now become a verb, it has become a phenomenon in which people are devoting their time and energy towards being thrifty. There are even blogs and workshops that teach you specifically how to coupon. After reading the steps, it is apparent that to get started you need to start slow, rather than jump right in.

Online and newspaper inserts are a great way to find coupons, many companies will have online specials or deals, for example, Next Day Blinds coupons are available online. Also, many stores will allow you to take home the extra Sunday papers left over on Monday.

Tune into Extreme Couponing on Wednesdays at 9: 30 PM Eastern Time.

When you’re the heiress of the Hilton hotels empire then you can afford the finer things in life; caviar, a gulfstream, a pink Bentley. Reality TV star Paris Hilton doesn’t just have a blue Bentley convertible but a pink 2007 Bentley Continental. Apparently when you are rich and famous Bentleys are like Pringles- you just can’t stop at one.  Though, seeing Paris Hilton with the newest sunglasses or jewelry might be wonderful free marketing for fashion companies its doubtful that her unofficial endorsements are helping the auto industry. In fact, it almost seems as though Paris’ Bentley ownership might hurt the brand.  Take note there is such a thing as bad press – it’s called Paris Hilton. It’s similar to the Lebron James Miami situation; before Lebron left the Cavaliers no one really hated the Miami Heat, but now it’s a much different story. I can’t say for sure if Bentley sales numbers have dropped since Paris became a proud owner, but I wouldn’t be buying one anytime soon. Although, It’s not like Bentley can exactly stop spoiled heiresses from buying their cars, heck, they are probably one of their largest demographics but this one girl they should’ve denied. Just look at her Bentley, the entire car is pink even the rims. I’ve heard of black rims on a car before but pink rims that’s certainly new.  Bentley, please go back to making racing cars. Sincerely, Cup of Snarky.

Pop singer, Katy Perry, feeling a little lonely on her tour in Japan thought it would be a good idea to invite her husband Russell Brand over to share some quality time in between concerts. Things didn’t exactly work out as planned though, as Brand was detained at the airport and denied entry into Japan. It seems as though Brand has a bit of a criminal history in Japan, which is unsurprising considering his history of wild behavior. Brand was once even public admonished by prime minister of England, Gordon Brown, for the obscene prank calls he made during his BBC radio show.  Brand was detained in regards to offenses he committed in the country 10 years ago.

Eventually Brand was deported from Japan all together, maybe because of his priors or maybe because they saw his remake of “Arthur”; either reason seems like a perfectly excuse to expel the star. Neither the Tokyo immigration department nor Brand has commented on exactly what those offenses are that he is accused of committing, but it’s safe to assume it wasn’t littering.   Congratulations Russell you’re one set closer to becoming your outrageous “Get Him to Greek”" character Aldous Snow. You can follow Brand on twitter here.

One of the most memorable movies of 2009 was “The Hangover”. The movie was filled with crazy characters, a far-fetched story line and outlandish jokes. Overall, it was a huge blockbuster, grossing $467 million, and was extremely successful in theaters. Since its premier, the movie has become a huge part of pop culture, sparking many phrases, t-shirts, and jokes. The movie was so successful that they decided to make a sequel which will be released May 26, 2011.

Caesars Entertainment just recently announced that Caesars Palace Las Vegas will have a new “Hangover” themed slot machine. The game will have all of the characters, the most memorable quotes from the movie. There will be bonuses inspired by events from the movie such as, the Vegas wedding bonus and the stun gun bonus. Caesars is hoping to create a game that will draw people in using the popularity and recognition of the movie. If the slot is anything close to the movie, then it will be filled with twists, turns and a ton of laughs.

Caesars stated that collaborating with the film was very natural as Caesars Palace is one of the main locations in the movie. In 2009, Caesars offered its guests a “Hangover” themed package as a promotional tool. They are hoping to bring in business with this new game, especially since it will be installed this summer.
The new game will be implemented in Caesars Palace in June, not too long after the sequel premiers. The second movie looks just as outrageous as the first; let’s hope it will be as hilarious as the original.

The French gave us the Statue of Liberty, and we’ve given them the gift of John McEnroe. I don’t know whether to apologetic or really proud. The 2011 Roland-Garros French Open kicked off this year yesterday on May 17th and runs until June 5th and promises to be a fierce event. Tennis is an entertaining sport, but I can’t help but wonder how different the French Open would be this year if infamous tennis pro John McEnroe were competing.  McEnroe’s performances on the court were legendary both in skill and attitude, and I would often just watch matches to see him erupt into one of his famous meltdowns. Surprisingly though, since retiring from tennis, McEnroe has transitioned into being an excellent tennis commentator. This year McEnroe will be resuming his duties as commentator and analyst for The Tennis Channel’s French Open coverage alongside newly hired analyst Mary Carillo. Although McEnroe’s not participating in the event we can at least look forward to some insightful commentary and maybe the occasional outburst.  There are few celebrities that realize how obnoxious they act like McEnroe appears to, who now plays off his famous bad behavior for laughs. I’ve actually really grown to like McEnroe as a commentator as too. Maybe we’ll get lucky and McEnroe will run onto to the court again to teach some arrogant young whelp a lesson like he did at the 2009 US Open. One can only hope.

Have you seen Will Smith‘s gigantic trailer that he was staying in while filming Men in Black 3? Well an entire block in New York is very familiar with it, because it has been parked in front of their homes for days.  When Smith films a movie he does it in style,  obnoxious style. The kind of style that demands that you have a massive trailer parked on set even if you are renting a $25,000 a month apartment only blocks away. Smith’s trailer for M.I.B. III is 53 feet long and has a whopping 1,150 square feet of interior space.  The trailer includes amenities such as a 100-inch movie screen, full kitchen, bedroom, gym, and even a balcony. That’s right a balcony on a trailer.  I suppose when you are one of the world’s highest paid actors it wouldn’t feel right to stay in a trailer without a balcony.  Though, at the request of the local community Sony pictures had the trailer relocated to a private lot near the filming site.  Maybe Smith will have his driver take him to the trailers new location.

There are so many people who are interested in poker these days, that it’s somewhat surprising that there aren’t more anthropologists looking at the game. In terms of pure performance, there are few places that can serve as a gauge of human culture and behavior than this city. Las Vegas shows are filled with extremely talented people who, on one level, are merely adepts at making the every day bigger. The poker table might be another version of this, or at least, it’s well on its way.

It could be argued that this idea of poker performance started to take on some of its contemporary traction from the western films of the 1950s. Here, the notion of poker as a performance became part of the popular consciousness. Poker faces became a representation of toughness, and proper etiquette at the table was absolutely necessary for survival.

Recently, however, shows like Celebrity Poker Showdown have entered the mainstream with an amazing force. The shows have not only inspired people to come to the city and take their chances at the tables, they have also been instrumental in developing momentum for what is becoming a major international past time. Here, on television, people learn more than just the rules of a card game, they learn rules of behavior, that may have nothing to do with the world at large, but it’s so much fun that no one notices.

Paula Adbul was recently revealed to be the latest judge to join Simon Cowell’s X-Factor. The list of judges for the show now consists of Simon Cowell (of course), Paul Adbul, L.A. Reid, and Cheryl Cole. We’ve missed the dynamic between the obnoxious Simon and innocent Paula ever since the duo went their separate ways during the days of American Idol. There are sure to be plenty of insults flying and tears shed by both the judges and the contestants. Here’s hoping though that Simon just brings his dream-crushing King Kong sized ego along with him.