Pop forum: Talk amongst yourselves

Yes, I'm still on vacation! The good news is I'll be back Monday, so posts will return to normal then. In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves and say hello to ...

Reader of the day: Gigi_S

Real name: Gaea Sawan
Where I live: Grapevine, Texas
Occupation: Auditor

Favorite movie: When I was a child, my favorite, hands down, was Hans Christian Andersen with Danny Kaye. Now, probably The Royal Tenenbaums, The Matrix and Airplane.

Favorite album: How about five: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (Lyle Lovett), Acoustic (Everything but the Girl), Gordon (Barenaked Ladies), My Aim is True (Elvis Costello), and ABBA Gold.

Favorite TV show: Currently, I really like Lost and Flight of the Concords, but my favorite of all time is Northern Exposure.

Three famous people I'd love to meet: Teddy Roosevelt, Fred Rogers and Jim Henson (there is no other Kermit)

One famous person I've actually met: William Wegman (the photographer), at a book signing.

A movie I can't stand (and why): When I was 10, I walked out of The Road Warrior because the lady was eating dogfood. I like it better now, although I still think it got more hype than deserved.

Pop forum: Talk amongst yourselves

I'm still vacationing in the Tennessee mountains, but the forum is open if you want to have a pop-culture powwow. Here's one fellow Pop Candy reader you might run into there:

Reader of the day: YourPalJoeyJoJo

Real name: Joseph Norniella
Where I live: Levittown, N.Y.
Occupation: Assistant project manager
MySpace: myspace.com/yourpaljoeyjojo

Favorite movie: I'd go with any of the Lord of the Rings movies, Lost Highway, anything Kevin Smith (with the exception of Catch and Release)

Favorite album: Being a child of the '80s, I endured the long and painful reign of bands like Warrant, Stryper and Quiet Riot. I was just about to give up on rock altogether when I heard about a new band called Pearl Jam. Their first album, Ten, changed my life and convinced me that rock was not dead. This album was a welcome change to my ears, that is still in constant rotation on my iPod. I have been a devoted PJ fan ever since.

Favorite TV show: For drama it's Lost all the way, comedy I'd go with Scrubs, guilty pleasure I'd go with What Not to Wear.

Three famous people I'd love to meet: Howard Stern, Eddie Vedder and Pearl the Landlord

One famous person I've actually met: While interning at VH1 Classic during college, I got to work on-set with AC/DC. They were totally cool and humble guys, sharing old stories and talking with the crew long after we were done shooting their interview.

Best Halloween costume I've ever worn: During my school years, our class was encouraged by a teacher to dress as our favorite literary character. I, not being too into reading at the time, came dressed as Waldo from the Where's Waldo? book series. My teacher seemed less than amused.

Pop forum: Talk amongst yourselves

While I'm on vacation, feel free to chat with other readers about pop culture in the forum. While you're there, you may meet this fellow:

Reader of the day: Tory (I know, real original)

Real name: Tory LaPrath
Where I live: Phoenix
Occupation: Tech support
MySpace: myspace.com/torysan21

Favorite movie: Star Wars (all), Blade Runner, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Airplane!

Favorite album: The Joshua Tree by U2, Hit by Peter Gabriel, The Wall by Pink Floyd

Favorite TV show: Lost, Friends, Heroes, Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, The Muppet Show

Three famous people I'd love to meet, dead or alive: Harrison Ford, JFK, Thomas Jefferson

One famous person I've actually met: I've sold sunglasses to Chuck Norris.

Coolest pop-culture item I own: I still have a working original Han Solo blaster from 1977.

Podcast: Best of Pop Candy

Because of my vacation, in this week's podcast I spliced together some of my favorite moments and songs from previous podcasts. Among them are my interview with 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer and the now-famous dog food story from my "15 minutes of fame" podcast, as told by BIG BUSINESS.

Hear it now:

- Download the free podcast from iTunes

- Stream it as a Windows Media file

Thanks for listening, as usual! See the archive at candypodcast.usatoday.com, and check out my RSS feed, too. I'll be back next week with an all-new podcast.

Pop forum: Talk amongst yourselves

As my vacation continues, here's another chance to chat with readers and meet another one of your own:

Reader of the day: noellepomeroy

Real name: Noelle Pomeroy
Where I live: Jacksonville Beach, Fla.
Occupation: Surgical business manager
MySpace: myspace.com/noelle76

Favorite movie: Shawshank Redemption, About a Boy, A Bronx Tale, Breaking Away

Favorite album: Guns N Roses' Appetite for Destruction and Brian Vander Ark's Resurrection

Favorite TV show: The Office, Extras, 30 Rock, Lost, Ugly Betty and Man Vs. Wild

Three famous people I'd love to meet, dead or alive: Jodie Foster, Ricky Gervais, Jerry Orbach (Love me some Lenny Briscoe)

One famous person I've actually met: Hilary Duff. When I worked as a radio host, I met her backstage at a concert. She was so tiny ... in a photo we took, my left breast dwarfed her entire torso.

A movie I can't stand (and why): Dodgeball. There is so much talent in this film, but it is just awful. I don't think I laughed once ... wait, Gary Cole and Jason Bateman made me giggle.

My celebrity crush: Jake Gyllenhaal, Clive Owen, Josh Halloway, John Krasinski and Wentworth Miller

Pop forum: Talk amongst yourselves

I'm still on vacation (sorry), but you're welcome to talk with other readers about pop culture while I'm gone. Here's today's man in the spotlight:

Reader of the day: Tim l (that's a lowercase "L," not an "I")

Real name: Tim L.
Where I live: St. Paul, Minn.
Occupation: Editor
Blog: http://captainblogger.wordpress.com

Favorite movie: The Lion in Winter (1968 version). Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Hopkins (before the "sir") put on an acting clinic with an interesting story and great dialogue. "I've snapped and plotted all my life. There's no other way to be alive, king, and 50 all at once." Runner up: Blade Runner

Favorite album: This may sound weird, but A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi. I love that music, and I look forward to Christmas every year just so I can play that album nonstop for an entire month and not feel guilty about it at all. Otherwise, London Calling by The Clash for olde skool rock and Nashville by Josh Rouse for something a bit newer.

Favorite TV show: The Amazing Race. The Office and Lost are up there, too. I used to be a big 24 fan, but I think they lost me with Jack Bauer and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad season 6.

Three famous people I'd love to meet: Amy Sedaris, so I can have dinner with her and woo her to be my girlfriend. Wolfgang Puck, so he can cook the dinner Amy and I will be having while I woo her to be my girlfriend. Django Reinhardt, so he can play the music for Amy and I while I woo her to be my girlfriend.

One famous person I've actually met: I ran into Garrison Keillor once at the Minnesota State Fair. He was very nice, and very tall. I also met Amy Sedaris at a book signing, but there was no time for proper wooing.

Best concert experience: About 10 years ago I went to the Horde Festival in Milwaukee (Algonquin for "the good land") to see the Black Crowes and Blues Traveler. There was a third, opening band I had never heard of, and when they came on stage they just blew me away. I went out early the next morning and bought their album, and that was the beginning of my obsession with the Dave Matthews Band (why do I feel like Paul Harvey?) And now you know ... the rest ... of the story. Good day!

Pop forum: Talk amongst yourselves

I'm on vacation, but feel free to chat about pop culture with other readers while I'm gone. While you're hanging out in the comments section, here's one person to look for:

Reader of the day: Solaana

Real name: Kristina Ogilvie
Where I live: Chicago
Occupation: Department assistant
Website: flickr.com/photos/solaana

Favorite movie: The Mummy, I think? That's such a sad choice. The Jungle Book, When Harry Met Sally, LOTR, 16 Candles ... I think I'm just thinking of movies I know by heart, so I have no idea what my favorite movie is.

Favorite album: Ha. I wish I could pick. I couldn't live without the Kings of Convenience, though.

Favorite TV show: Tie between How I Met Your Mother and Heroes.

Favorite book: Skinnybones, Bridge to Terabithia, House of the Scorpion, Cloud Atlas

Favorite website (aside from the Candy): Go Fug Yourself, Dooce, Apartment Therapy, Outblush

Three famous people I'd love to meet, dead or alive: (I could give all sorts of fictional examples, but thinking of any real people I'd want to meet is really hard ...) P.T. Barnum, Katharine Hepburn and Seth Green.

One famous person I've actually met: I passed El Duque on the way to a bathroom in the Boston Sheraton once.

Favorite movie line: "Babyfishmouth!"

The last pop-culture item I bought: A Rats of NIMH lunchbox

How I started reading Pop Candy: I started reading it regularly back in 2001 when I got my first job ... and was so bored, that I started doing a e-mail advent calendar for my friends that December. I used a lot of websites that you linked to, most infamously the one showing pictures of kids freaking out on Santa's lap. I still link to that one every year, because apparently people add to it every year.

Thanks, Kristina! I must say, that's quite an interesting list of folks you'd like to meet ...

A Candy vacation? Believe it ...

I've been dreading this post all day, but here goes: I'm going on vacation. Forgive me.

Pop Candy is taking a break while I head to the mountains, remember what my spouse looks like and forget about the Internet for awhile. The forum and "Reader of the day" feature will continue, but that's it. Regular posts will resume Oct. 1.

Maybe you'll use this time to chat in the comments, peruse the archives, visit some sites on my "Worth reading" list or go bowling. Trust me, I'll be back before you know it.

Who's blogging now?

Here's an interesting piece from Slate about blogs written by TV characters. There are tons of them out there (maybe too many): Creed from The Office, Margene from Big Love, Barney from How I Met Your Mother, to name a few.

"In general, they're written with more attention to detail -- and better punctuation -- than the average day-in-the-life blog," the story says. "And, theoretically at least, they could be a welcome development ... With a few notable exceptions, however, most of these blogs kind of stink."

I agree. I have a hard time reading character blogs because I know the task is falling to assistants or cast members or interns or anyone but the writers who should be doing them in the first place. Frankly, I'd rather read about the inner-workings of a show (like this) than spend time with the show's character.

An online battle of network stars

The long-awaited online game TV Big Shot has launched, so if you think you know what will fly on TV this season (and what will flop), you may want to take a stab. At best, you could win $100,000. At worst, you could place your money on a quality show, only to watch it tank to some lame reality series.

The site works like a fantasy sports league: Sign up, and you'll get a budget of $300 million to create a fantasy network. You can buy and sell shows in hopes of gaining points via press coverage, ratings and the like. At the end of the season, the network with the most points wins.

The game is sponsored by Bravo and Television Without Pity, which underwent a snazzy redesign this week. It begs the question we ask around this time every year: What series are doomed to be cancelled within weeks?