Pop Culture News and Notes

There have been so many pop culture headlines recently that I've wanted to write entire columns about but just haven't had the time (My cousin invited my Girlfriend and I up to his new house in Southwest VA this past weekend and we had a blast!).

Regardless, there are a few things that I absolutely have to comment on before they slip my mind and become irrelevant; so we're going to do some pop culture news mcnugget style today.

- First of all, thanks to the suggestion by our good friend Kevin, we will now have a local events calendar in the bar to the right. We get so focused on the national that we tend to neglect the local and he's right, we want you to do your one-stop shopping right here on popandculture.com. My Girlfriend and I are always finding random local events to do and our friends are constantly commenting that they would do more stuff if they knew about them, so here you go! And with Labor Day coming up, this wasn't a bad weekend to start posting events. I believe that local band, and our good friends, Days Difference will be playing with Paramore on Friday night at the nTelos Pavillion in Portsmouth (great venue if you've never been there). On Sunday, there's Brad Paisley at the VA Beach Amphitheater for all y'all country fans and if you have no money but are looking for a nice night out, definitely check out the VA Symphony Orchestra at Chesapeake City Park (I've done that event before and it's a great show - I think they do fireworks at the end, just be sure to bring a lawn chair).

- In national entertainment news, "American Idol" producers recently announced that they will be adding a fourth judge (songwriter/producer Kara DioGuardi) to the panel with Simon, Paula, and Randy in hopes to spice things up and help fix the slumping ratings from this past season. If you ask me, a fourth judge is not the only thing "Idol" needs to become relevant again. We've talked about it at length here and on our show, but I've always said that the audience should be able to see the voting results from top to bottom each week (I believe our buddy Paul agrees with me on this one). I know we get to see who was in the bottom three each week but imagine if you could know who was in the top three. I really think it would get more people interested and voting for their favorites. And as much as I liked Neil Diamond week, they really do need to do more modern theme weeks. I know it all comes down to what music they can use based on ownership rights but instead of Elvis night or Barry Manilow week, let's see the contestants try U2 or Green Day. Just something more modern and relevant.

- I've been loving the casting rumors for the next villain(s) in the next "Batman" film (if there's even going to be one). First it started with Johnny Depp as the Riddler, which would actually be kind of interesting; but then it turned into Phillip Seymor Hoffman as the Penguin AND Angelina Jolie as Catwoman. And now Entertainment Weekly has the scoop on the newest rumor on who might play the Catwoman (I would have to see this one to believe it). I just don't know how you top Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker (or why you would even want to). I guess "The Dark Night" left the door open for a third installment and I believe most of the cast is signed for a third picture but director Christopher Nolan is not as of now; and I just think it would be a repeat of what happened with the original franchise if they moved on without Nolan (curse you Joel Schumacher!!). Let's lock up Nolan and Christian Bale first and then we can start talking about the villains.

- Finally, it's been sad to see a couple of entertainment legends pass away the past few weeks. Bernie Mac was a complete shock as was Isaac Hayes, but the one that really hit home with me was LeRoi Moore (sax player in the Dave Matthews Band). I was fortunate to be just old enough to experience DMB in their prime and Moore's sax was one of the main reasons I loved the band. That's something I've always tried for in this life - to do something that lasts beyond your time and means something to someone (I'll let you know if I come up with anything!).

Let me know what you all think on any or all of these topics and keep checking in throughout the week for new posts and updated info...

- Josh Mahler