Pop Culture Roundup for Late October 2011

Below are links to some of the latest pop culture stories you might have missed. . .

Halloween

Prince Charles
The new Dracula costume?

The Chicago Tribune‘s listed the top 25 scariest movies for Halloween.

Batty? Prince Charles claims he is related to Dracula.

Salon is featuring a slide show of the top ten Halloween special moments from The Simpsons.

Zombies rise again in pop culture. Wait, what’s that at my door. . . arrrrrr.. . .


Literature

Renovation of Edgar Allen Poe’s cottage in the Bronx, where he wrote “Cask of Amontillado,” is almost finished.

Did you know the original Pinocchio is a tragedy that ends with Pinocchio’s execution?


Movies

The Guinness Book of World Records named Samuel L. Jackson as highest grossing actor of all time. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness.

“He’s brought the theater of the absurd to the masses.”- Jack Black on Will Ferrell receiving Mark Twain Prize.

Check out this review of new documentary about the band The Swell Season, which features Once stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.

Tim Burton has designed a balloon for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

A new biography delves into the life and career of Spencer Tracy.

The Princess Bride cast reunited for a recent photo shoot.

Washington Cougars Clock
Betty White is now a Cougar.

Television

Betty White received an honorary doctorate degree from Washington State Univ. She’s a Cougar now.

Survivor’s Rupert Boneham is running for governor of Indiana.

Music

U2 revisits Achtung Baby while pondering the band’s future.

Listen to Tom Waits’s new album, Bad as Me on the NPR website.

“I love to be in a barbershop where I know I don’t have to get a haircut.” — Tom Waits in interview about new CD.

The Flaming Lips will pay tribute to Steve Jobs by playing “Revolution” by the Beatles at the O Music Awards.

One writer gave a nice appreciation of Extreme’s “More Than Words” . . . with words. (from Popdose)

If you are a fan of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, you should check out this person’s blog.

Folk-singer Pete Seeger enters his ninth decade as an activist.

The iPod turns 10 this month. How has it changed music?


What are your favorite pop culture stories this month? Leave your two cents in the comments section.

  • Mississippi John Hurt: “Lonesome Valley”
  • The Heroic Death of Folksinger Victor Jara
  • Springsteen and Hansard “Drive All Night”
  • Bono and Glen Hansard: The Auld Triangle
  • ‘Fairytale of New York’ at Shane MacGowan’s funeral
  • Trini Lopez: Hammerin’ Out Danger
  • (Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)