Pop Shots - Sights and Sounds

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Shakira’s new spot in Hollywood, to the band no one wants to see at halftime on Thanksgiving, to a music video made with over a quarter of a million jelly beans, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Latin bombshell Shakira received a much deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this past week. Rumor has it when you walk by it you start to uncontrollably move your hips and shake your ass. J.Lo walked by it the other day and destroyed an entire souvenir shop.

* In sad news, Heavy D passed away last week at the age of 44. He left a legacy of great, positive, music and one final tweet that beautifully captured who he was as a person. The tweet was two simple words in all caps - BE INSPIRED. We should all be so lucky as to be able to leave something so poetic right before we pass.

* The people of Detroit have a lot things they like. They like good football, Justin Verlander and Eminem. One thing they apparently don’t like is Nickelback, the Canadian band the NFL chose to perform at halftime of the Lions’ Thanksgiving day game against the Packers. Fans are clamoring for a more Detroit-centric act that represents the city’s vast legacy of rock n roll and soul. Nickelback might want to be a little concerned about their safety if this gig actually happens, because as countless Detroit quarterbacks can tell you, the Lions have never really been able to protect anyone.

* After an unbelievably misinformed tweet about former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, Ashton Kutcher has decided he needs a babysitter on Twitter. His exact words were, “I'm going to turn the management of the feed over to my team at Katalyst Media to ensure the quality of it's (sic) content.” In other words, someone get him his binky, some warm milk, and put him in his crib for a nap, he can’t handle the big bad Twitter monster all on his own. Oh, and if Ashton’s reading this - pro wrestling is scripted, the tooth fairy didn’t leave that dollar under your pillow, and Demi wants to have a talk with you about how babies are born.

* Michael Jackson is still making big deals, even from beyond the grave. What am I talking about? A Sony-led consortium that includes the Jackson estate and David Geffen have a deal in place to buy EMI publishing for $2.2 billion (that’s billion, with a b). In a related story, I still have $6.27 left in unused iTunes gift card money, so I’m well on my way to acquiring some music, too. KAPOW!

* In what quickly became a public relations nightmare, Jay-Z created an Occupy Wall Street inspired shirt through his Rocawear clothing line, but made no official commitment to monetarily support the movement. This means all the profits from the shirt were to go directly to Jay, with none going to support the movement. Basically Jay saw a group of people and said “how can I make money off of this, while not supporting it in the least?” The shirts were quickly pulled after people got wind of his plans. Of course, this still gives no money to the cause. It’s truly amazing that someone who built a career on having street cred can become the exact type of person that contributed to the terrible street conditions he grew up in. Profit off the poor’s struggle, contribute nothing to it. Great job, Mr. 1%.

* If you watch The Big Bang Theory you’re probably familiar with the “Soft Kitty” song. It’s the song Sheldon’s mother would sing to him when he was sick, and Penny has since learned and sung, as well. It was only a matter of time before an actual soft kitty hit the market, and that time is now, as Stylin Online has released an official Soft Kitty t-shirt and stuffed animal. There is still no word on what percentage of the sales will support any Occupy Soft Kitty movements.

* You want to see something awesome? Of course you do! I have that awesome thing you want, nay, NEED to see right here. It’s Kina Grannis’ video for “In Your Arms.” The clip was done using 288,000 jelly beans (which is usually the number I guess is in the jar. I never win those contests for some reason), and the song’s pretty great, too.


And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.