Brought to you by asap and The Associated Press, The Slug tastes pop culture for you — just in case it's been poisoned. E-mail us at [email protected].
(AP Photo)
Look out! asap's endingstravaganza has begun! The Associated Press' premium multimedia news service is nearing its final hour with content all about conclusions. Online now, you can find a list of great literary outcomes, a story about the death of indie rock, an essay discussing the end of a meal and videos about the finales of wars and movies. Stay tuned. Later today, The Slug will reveal our favoritest TV finales.
(AP Photo/HO/Turbine)
You'll soon be able to own your own virtual home in Middle-earth. That's because
"Lord of the Rings Online" is introducing player housing on Oct. 24. The homes
will cost up to 20 gold pieces. The interiors can be customized and decked out with hundreds of
items. Dwarves will
dwell in Ered Luin. Men
will maintain residences in Bree-land. Elves will exist in The Tower Falls. And hobbits will hang in The Shire. How precious!
(AP Photo/HO/Sci Fi)
The Slug is actually looking forward to Sci Fi Channel's reimagining of "The Wizard of Oz." Yes, we know this is the same channel that turns out such schlocky made-for-TV movies as "Mansquito" and "Mega Snake," but the preview for the "Tin Man" mini-series (which premieres Dec. 2) doesn't make us wanna click our heels and wish we were home. Go off to see their bizarre promotional site.
(AP Photo/HO/Universal Orlando)
As far as muggles go, The Slug ain't a huge Harry Potter fan, but we were still very excited/interested/curious when we heard the news that the Universal Orlando Resort is opening "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" at the Islands of Adventure theme park. The new "land" will include the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade village, along with Potter-themed attractions, shops and eateries. The blueprints better include a quidditch ride!
(AP Photo/HO/Sony)
Granny likes to listen to books. That means gramps still likes to read them. (He's stubborn like that.) The Slug recommends you help grandpa get with the times by giving him a Sony Reader. At that Q&A we attended earlier this week, Sony Electronics president Stan Glasgow said Readers, which can hold up to 100 books each, were flying off shelves. The Slug tested it out and we can see why. It's light. It's easy to read. And it sorta looks like a book. But if your pa-pa doesn't like to read, just get him the fishy john instead.
(AP Photo/Derrik J. Lang)
Hope y'all didn't purchase all your holiday gifts on Black Friday. Beginning today, The Slug will begin presenting cool/weird/hot/stupid gift ideas. This is stuff that's crossed our desk, fallen on our heads or otherwise entered our personal space and made us go a.) hmmmm b.) ahhhh c.) ohhhh or d.) yummy.
First up: Something for granny that'll help her understand iPods. It's called Playaway. It's basically a tiny audio book player that you can plug headphones into. The online store sells everything from "The Da Vinci Code" to "The 9/11 Commission Report." Unlike an MP3 player, you can't change what's on it — which makes it perfect for regifting! We like 'em most because they look like lil' books. Cute, huh?
(AP Photo/Derrik J. Lang)
If you're looking to become a hotel maid, don't mess with Texas. That's because Houston, San Antonio and Austin top the list of North America's most accommodating cities for travelers with pets, based on the number of pet-friendly lodgings included in the latest edition of "Traveling with your Pet: The AAA PetBook." Houston has 108 pet-friendly accommodations available, including three five-diamond hotels. Yeehaw! Here's the top ten. And here's a podcast about the booming business of pet travel. And there's a photo of The Slug's Welsh corgi.
(AP Photo/HO/People)
We're not sure why we're writing about this (other than an excuse to to post another photo of Taylor Hicks), but both People and TV Guide are going gaga over guys this week. TV Guide has their Television's Sexiest Men list while People unveils their Hottest Bachelors Issue. Guess it's been awhile since the glossies got some.
Anyway, the latter proclaims Hicks as the No. 1 Hottest Bachelor and also set up an e-mail address to find a blonde woman Hicks told the mag he "would probaly fall in love" with had he chatted her up on a plane. Well, not all blondes read People and The Slug wants to find this mystery lady first — we promise we won't hurt her — so we posted this message on Hicks' behalf in craigslist.org's missed connections section:
Did you make sexy eyes at a prematurely gray-haired dude? - m4w - 29
Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 2006-06-15, 9:03AM PDTWhoooo! We're posting this for a friend of ours. He's shy. If you're blonde, beautiful, were on a plane recently and locked eyes with a juicy 6'1"-tall silver-haired crooner from 'Bama, we want to talk to you. He thinks it could be love at first sight for ya'll. Just think of the "Possibilities." If you were actually into him and weren't just staring at him because he recently became superfamous and rich after winning the biggest show on television, e-mail us and you could become the First Lady of Soul Patrol. This is serious. Whoooo!
(AP Photo/HO/Classic Media)
Recently, The Slug hung out with the biggest bitch in Hollywood for this story. Little did we know Lassie was such a controversial figure. She seemed so nice! After the story was published, we received this letter, setting the record straight about the pooch's history. In our defense, we were just writing about hanging with the bitch for one night. We weren't hired to write her biography. (But we totally would. Lassie, call us!) The bizarre letter, after the jump.
