Entertainment

third places

third places: neutral, convenient, and comfortable public venues (e.g., coffee shops, bars, hair salons, bookstores, parks) where people regularly gather for conversation and companionship (i.e., "first place" is home; "second place" is work). The term was coined by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his book, The Great Good Place. *** TROVELOG *** At issue, in essence, is whether [...]

escape room

escape room: a space where a team of users pays fees to work through numerous clues, puzzles, lock combinations and stories to successfully solve or discover something in order to "escape" the room within a time limit. *** TROVELOG *** Up a flight of stairs in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood, dozens or even hundreds of people a week [...]

esports

esports: competitive multiplayer video game contests, typically where teams of professional gamers compete for monetary prizes in leagues and tournaments often held in arenas with live audiences and livestreaming to others. *** TROVELOG *** For gaming, this is a moment of convergence of trends. Professional esports leagues around games like League of Legends are growing more popular [...]

liar libel

liar libel: a defamation lawsuit by a plaintiff who claims the defendant's statement that the plaintiff lied about a material matter is an assertion of fact, not opinion. *** TROVELOG *** Before the #MeToo movement, libel lawsuits from people accused of lying were in decline. Indeed, a 2016 law review article chronicled what it called “the slow, quiet and [...]

rage room (aka: “anger room”)

rage room (aka: “anger room”): a facility that charges customers fees to smash objects: household items, office machines, electronics, furniture, human effigies or any of the customer's personal items. *** TROVELOG *** Donna Alexander, proprietor of the Anger Room in Dallas, can barely keep her business stocked with printers for customers to crush. “Rage rooms,” as they’re [...]

Indie Rock/ Mali

Everywhere you turn these days, it seems that the indie rock world is exploring African sounds. Labels like Dead Oceans, Secretly Canadian and True Panther have also begun releasing new recordings by African musicians, those acts have begun playing American gigs, and African music regularly gets attention on the indie-minded Web sites of Pitchfork, Mojo [...]

authenticity

        "Authenticity is like authority or charisma: If you have to tell people you have it, then you probably don't." --Andrew Potter "Whenever you find something described as authentic, you know that you are already in the realm of fake authenticity," says Andrew Potter in his recent book "The Authenticity Hoax." It's not unlike [...]

Disney/ divorce

       Pity poor Hannah, who received a startling text message on her cellphone, sent from her father: "Your mom and I are going to divorce next month." After Hannah registered her alarm, her father quickly texted back: "I wrote 'Disney,' and this phone changed it.  We are going to Disney." Welcome to the world [...]

Carrie Fisher/bipolar

       Q. Just to clarify, do you suffer from manic depression or bipolar disorder? FISHER They say bipolar now. It’s the same as manic depression. I think manic depression is more descriptive. Bipolar sounds like a gay bear.       [Italics added.] See article at: NYT 05Dec10: "No Business Like Their Family Business" [featuring a joint [...]

Lady Gaga/ fame

     "You won't be able to order a cup of coffee at the f---ing deli without hearing or seeing me," Lada Gaga [Stefani Germanotta] told her boyfriend in 2008.  It took only two years for her prophecy (or threat) to come true.  Tickets to her Monster Ball global tour were so in demand that [...]

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