4 Ways to Feel About “Arrested Development” Season 4

Safe to say, we here at PorchDrinking are bona fide fans of “Arrested Development” (and four of those stories were written by me). So we were all pretty excited this week at the launch of Season 4 of the show – fifteen brand new episodes all at once! The Bluths are back!

The internet, of course, has had its say. And it hasn’t exactly been a consensus. So I present my (almost entirely) spoiler-free way of processing the complicated feelings you may have. As you ask yourself, “Did I like this? Should I watch it again? What is Netflix getting out of this?” check out the 4 very different ways to feel about season 4 of TV’s best comedy ever.

(Okay, I’ll editorialize. I’m in camp #2 here. Not to be confused with Camp Kissa-Me-Mommy.)

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The Pronunciation Wars- GIF

In case you hadn’t heard, the longstanding debate regarding the notoriously tricky pronunciation of “GIF” has been settled once and for all. Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review 5/19-5/25

When Harry Met FX

Ok, that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it but anyways- FX has greenlit a comedy starring Billy Crystal to begin shooting this summer.  The … Read More

Awesomesauce- #myfriendsaremarried

Being the old, married person that I am, my newest Tumblr obsession may seem a bit odd to you, but bear with me.  We are all familiar with the standard GIF Tumblr layout by now, I’m sure (if for some reason you aren’t, go check out this one and this one right now.  We’ll wait until you get back…) Basically, the author gives a scenario, and then presents the reader with a GIF that mirrors their reaction to the situation.  For example, this, this and this. Read More

This Is Not Magic Hat #thisisnotmagichat

We found out earlier this week that there has been quite a bit of confusion over the interpretation of some of Magic Hat Brewing Company’s products.  Willie’s in Lexington, Kentucky decided to don their good samaritain cap and ensure that there were no further confusions over product branding. Thanks to Facebook user Collin Wallace for posting this picture.

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Pop Culture Week In Review: May 10-16

It’s been awhile, PorchDrinkers. I have so much to share with you. And I’m not just talking about Star Trek: Into Darkness. I won’t say anything here for fear of spoiling the movie… but let’s be honest, if you haven’t had Star Trek’s “twist” spoiled for you by now, it’s because you haven’t been on the internet at all.

Anyway… some non-JJ Abrams stuff happened this week. Let’s review this week in pop culture! Read More

Summer Movie Preview

When trolling our website (as in ‘looking at our content,’ not ‘writing mean comments on other posts’), this week I found that we here at PorchDrinking haven’t told you what … Read More

Instagram, the Sellout?

Many people mourned the day that Facebook bought Instagram for a whopping 1 billion dollars (to be read in a Dr. Evil voice) a little over a year ago. They saw the sale as the beginning of the end for the independent app, and luckily their fears have been largely unfounded to date. True to his word, Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t changed much about the service in the intervening 12 or so months. That being said, the first signs of Facebook interference…um…influence are beginning to show.  Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review

They turned the IT Crowd off, but they are turning if back on again

Creator Graham Lineham has confirmed the basement gang of Reynholm Industries will be back one last time.  And … Read More

Awesomesauce- Fab.com

As a long-time lover of the MOMA design store for their beautiful, useful gadgets, I was surprisingly hesitant to give Fab.com a chance.  Both retailers are known for their amazingly (and sometimes famously) designed products, but that is where the similarities end.

Boasting Ashton Kutcher as one of their early investors and a slogan of “Smile, you’re designed to”, Fab.com is like a lot of other flash sale sites; they feature a select group of products at discounted prices for short periods of time.  What sets it apart from a site like Gilt.com, however, is its variety of products.  While Gilt focuses on luxury and designer goods (that, honestly, I can’t afford, even when they are discounted), Fab focuses on the quirky, the modern, the simple and the useful.  Read More

Pop Culture Week in Review 4/27-5/3

Late Night Wars!

But it isn’t what you think.  Chris Hardwick has been given yet another television show (He already helms the Nerdist on BBC America and Talking Dead on AMC and is developing … Read More

Is This The Name of a Kentucky Derby Horse OR an Indie Band?

The Kentucky Derby is best known for its ageless charm, style, and distinction. Every year you expect to see Derby hats, seersucker suits, mint juleps, and some good old-fashioned gambling. But there’s another tradition that seems more silly than logical – the names of all the horses are ridiculous.

Below is a list of names. 15 of these names belong to the horses running in this year’s Kentucky Derby, and the other 10 are the names of up-and-coming indie bands. See if you can correctly identify which of these are which. Good luck! Read More

Pop Culture Week In Review 4/20 – 4/27

Have you ever read one of our Pop Culture Week In Reviews and thought, “Hey, that wasn’t a review. Where’s the criticism and acclaim? The judging and gauging? The hoopla and hollering?” Well, I have, dear reader. Late last night, whilst perusing the dark corners of the internet for my secret pop culture sources, I realized you probably finish these articles with an air of contempt. “This is garbage, I wasn’t told what to think!” you say, contemptibly.

Lucky for you, I care, and while we usually pepper in our opinions with implicative subtext, today is not that day. So here’s me, actually reviewing the most notable pop culture news and happenings of the week.

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The Rise of the Phablet (Or, How We’re All Turning Into Kim Kardashian)

Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen – it’s here.

The hybrid phone/tablet combo that several different handset manufacturers have been threatening to produce has finally arrived.  Samsung released their Galaxy Mega this week, and it sports an absolutely massive 6.3-inch display.
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Ultimate 6er – Mad Men

In honor of its return to the airwaves, and sticking with my television theme, I opted to focus today’s article on the main characters of AMC’s hit period drama Mad Men. All I can say is, I hope this 6er is better than their previews this season.

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Pop Culture Week In Review: April 13-19

Though I was born a full 13 years after the release of Star Wars: Episode 4, there may be no movie which influenced or defined me quite like the Star Wars franchise. When I was 5 years old, I watched the entire original trilogy over the course of a weekend at my grandma’s house. I was never the same. I’ve joked before that my parents never had to give me the birds-and-the-bees talk, because by hooking me on Star Wars, they assured I’d be abstinent forever. Even at 23, I’m confident no woman will ever measure up to the ideal that is Princess Leia.

So what does all of this have to do with this week’s pop culture week in review? Well, there’s an amazing clip that you need to see. Read More

2013 Cochella Indio Weekend 2 Preview

Coachillin- The PD Guide to 2013 Cochella Indio Weekend 2 Preview

A week ago today, the California desert was the only thing on my mind. The countdown to Coachella had finally ended and the anticipation had kicked into overdrive. With the schedule having only been out for two days, mapping out the artists I wanted to see was both exciting and frustrating; conflicts, conflicts everywhere. In those few days, I tried to anticipate what I would need, what to expect from the festival, and who would  be up to task of rocking my socks off. Having since returned with a severe case of nostalgia, I hope this guide will serve you well…and also act  as a memento for these glorious days

While I could try and write an itinerary for your ultimate desert dance party, I will attempt to provide you a swiss army knife guide to getting around and what to look out for.

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Five Apps That Will Take Over 2013

If you own a smartphone, the first thing you probably noticed when you made the switch all those years ago is that you’d taken your first steps into a larger world. They are, after all, the pinnacle of communicative advancement and our gateway into a grander, interconnected world.

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Pop Culture Week in Review 4/5-4/12

What I’m enjoying now: AV Club’s fourth series of “AV Undercover” is now underway.

So far, we’ve had ZZ Ward cover Frank Ocean, Yo La Tengo cover the Supremes and Night Beds cover Robyn.  BTW, call your girl friend. It’s probably time you had the talk.  But by far, my favorite was Frontier Ruckus, whom I have never heard of, cover “Semi-Charmed Life” by a little up-and-coming band called Third Eye Blind.  And that’s just a sample of what to come.  They invite bands to play a song on their list of 25.  As the season goes, the list grows smaller, forcing the bands into fun little creative corners.  On this years list?  Billy Ocean.  Backstreet Boys.  New Radicals.  It is enjoyable.  You should partake.
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Awesomesauce- Letters of Note

My brother and I were lamenting the other day that people just don’t write like they used to.  Specifically, we were comparing letters from the battlefield or from across an ocean to the tweets and text messages of today. When the two are juxtaposed, the everyday ramblings of an 18^th century average Joe or Jane seem almost poetic in comparison to 140 characters on a screen.
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