November 18, 2009
[In this feature, we periodically check in to see what is up with Topher Grace.]
Earlier this week, comedian Ken Ober, most famous as the host of the MTV game show Remote Control, died at the age of 52. Ober helped to launch the careers of other comedians, like Adam Sandler and Colin Quinn, and anyone who grew up during the show's 1987-1991 run (or who was in their mid-50s but maintained a powerful interest in "the youthful culture") will always remember the show as something irreverent and new. The New York Times, in memorializing Ober called the show "sarcastic" and "self-mocking," and pointed out that Ober "ran the program like a late-night talk show (or frat party) and gleefully teased players who gave wrong answers." It's true! The show was like a late-night talk show, or a frat party, or somewhere in between. After hosting Remote Control, Ober went on to host some other game shows, but I do not think I am alone in having lost track of his career. And so his death stands as a painful reminder of both the fragility of life on this Earth that someone could be taken so young (and I don't know if you know this, but some people die at even younger ages sometimes! Without ever having been on TV at all! This world is really kind of a nightmare) and also of the fickle nature of fame, as a man who brought so much joy to so many people could so easily recede into the shadows. R.I.P. Ken Ober. You are in heaven now, gleefully teasing the angels who give wrong answers.
But if there is one bright moment* to take from Ken Ober's unfortunate passing, it is my strengthened resolve to continue doing the important work of What's Up with Topher Grace?, to ensure that we don't lose another of our beloved celebrities to disease-filled (or drug-overdose filled, do we really still not know what happened to Ken Ober?) obscurity.
So, what is up with him?
Continue reading Hey, What's Up With Topher Grace?...
Posted by Gabe at 5:45 PM in
Tags: Acting! | Celebrities | Death | Farragut North | Ken Ober | Remote Control | Topher Grace
latest by K-Hud
November 11, 2009
[In this feature, we periodically check in to see what is up with Topher Grace.]
Can you believe that the holidays are already here again? I mean, the holidays aren't really here yet. There's still awhile before the holidays. But the holidays are basically here. I saw an ad on TV this week for a Christmas special starring all of your favorite characters from the hit animated movies Madagascar and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa called Merry Madagascar. It's going to air on NBC on November 17th. November 17th! A Christmas special before Thanksgiving even! This nonsense really does start earlier-and-earlier every year, just like the grouches are always complaining about. It is weird, though, that Merry Madagascar is airing next week instead of on Christmas Eve when the whole family would probably want to make a super important annual family tradition out of it because of how good I bet it is going to be.
Anyway, it's the time of year where family and friendship and good will compete head-to-head (to-head-to-head) with crass materialism, but luckily for us, we have one thing that we can all share that doesn't cost a thing. And that is Topher Grace news.
What is up with him?!
Continue reading Hey, What's Up With Topher Grace?...
Posted by Gabe at 5:40 PM in
Tags: iPhone | Jake Gyllenhaal | Source Code | Topher Grace
latest by IkilledMichael
November 4, 2009
[In this feature, we periodically check in to see what is up with Topher Grace.]
I was listening to a podcast of an old episode of Fresh Air on my Zune the other day (because I listen to podcasts of old episodes of Fresh Air, because I'm 122 years old) and they had a review of a new documentary coming out called No Impact Man. The documentary is based on a book of the same name, which itself was based on a blog by a guy named Colin Beaven. The premise of this social experiment is that for one year, Colin and his family lived their lives sustainably, without taxing the environment in any way. So they used a clay pot instead of a refrigerator, and they made all their birthday presents out of bark, and they turned urine into prison wine, I don't know. You get the point! Now, to be fair to Colin Beaven, I have not read his blog, or his book, or seen the documentary, so I can't speak too knowledgeably about the thing I'm about to complain about, but doesn't it seem like he should change his name to Lots of Impact Man? (My carbon ZINGprint is huge!) Do you know how big of an environmental burden it is to print a book? Not to mention the amount of electricity involved in publishing a blog and creating a movie, which one assumes will later be distributed on DVDs. (Not to mention that the whole thing just seems self-indulgent and attention-cravey; the Supersize Me of the green movement.) I don't know, something about the whole thing made me so mad.
You know who isn't polluting the world with his well-meaning but terribly misguided book? Topher Grace. But this isn't a column about what Topher Grace isn't up to. It's about what he is! Let's see!
Continue reading Hey, What's Up With Topher Grace?...
Posted by Gabe at 5:45 PM in
Tags: Blogs | Colin Beavens | No Impact Man | Topher Grace
latest by magsweeto
October 28, 2009
[In this feature, we will periodically check in to see what is up with Topher Grace.]
A couple of days ago, I finished reading the novel Deadwood, by Pete Dexter. Did you know that the HBO show Deadwood was based on a novel? It was! I only watched a couple of episodes, which is probably for the best, because Pete Dexter's novel is one of the best books I've read in a really long time. It was, in a word, perfect. The pacing and the plotting were flawless. And the language! Oh, the language was such a treat to read! Every page contained some kind of verbal surprise, and his powers of description are daunting. Nothing could be improved upon. It is as if the book fell from the sky, and all of the villagers gathered around thinking it was a Coke bottle from God. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Deadwood, of course, describes the mildly horrific, pre-civilized world of the Old West. An unformed American landscape where the only thing harder than the men is the women. It's a glimpse into a life that we can only imagine, surrounded as we are by our modern conveniences and our soft-bellied expectations.
For example, I have no idea how people even got their Topher Grace news back then. It was not easy like it is now, where you can find everything that's been going on with Topher Grace this week just by following the jump.
Continue reading Hey, What's Up With Topher Grace?...
Posted by Gabe at 5:45 PM in
Tags: Clark Gable | Topher Grace
latest by Dan S
October 21, 2009
[In this new feature, we will periodically check in to see what is up with Topher Grace.]
It seems obvious that our culture is dangerously obsessed with celebrity. Famous people have long given up any semblance of a private life, as they are followed by a gaggle of aggressive, invasive paparazzi from one Starbucks to another Starbucks (to another Starbucks). Picking up dog shit on the beach. Whatever. Now, even non-famous people who have been on television suffer the same fate, and gladly! Want to see photos of some sad girl from a forgotten season of The Bachelor putting gas into her 1996-model economy car? You can! And she would be thrilled. Unattractive people with no discernible talent are rushing at the chance to make their lives a living hell. And this year things seem to have rapidly gotten worse than ever before. The Octo-mom? Jon & Kate? These are living monsters invading our homes out of selfishness, greed, misunderstanding, and existential dread. And now we have Richard Heene, who tried to convince the world that his six-year-old son was trapped in a balloon of his own design, miles above the Earth. Trapped! In the sky! Moments from death! An innocent child! All for a chance to be on a reality TV show? Didn't anyone tell him that reality TV shows are the worst and that everyone who is on them is assholes? Hopefully someone in jail will be able to tell him that. Correct his mistake. Anally. The point is: things really seem to get getting out of control!
Oh, hey, speaking of our cultural obsession with celebrity: what is up with Topher Grace?
Continue reading Hey, What's Up With Topher Grace?...
Posted by Gabe at 5:30 PM in
Tags: Falcon Heene | Fame | Fan Art | Richard Heene | Topher Grace
latest by TheCharlie
October 14, 2009
[In this new feature, we will periodically check in to see what is up with Topher Grace.]
Last week, I spent a few days in Los Angeles. Things are very different there than they are in New York. People wear a lot more hats for one thing. There's a very active and vibrant hat culture in Los Angeles that you don't see as much here. In addition to so many hats, I saw two celebrities while I was there. I'm not sure if that is a good ratio or not for the amount of time spent in town. Let's say it is average. On Sunday, I saw Michael Cera walking around Silverlake. He might have been walking with Parks and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza, which would bring my celebrity sightings to three, but I did not look closely enough, because to look too closely is to not be very cool, and I am always so cool. And then, on Tuesday evening, I saw Ron Perlman at a sushi restaurant. That's right, Ron Perlman. Hellboy! Eatin' sushi! Makin' copies! We're basically friends now, joined in a sacred bond over our love of red snapper sashimi. I mean, we're not friends at all. But you know what I mean.
Guess who I did not see while I was in Los Angeles? That's right, Topher Grace. Which begs the question:
What's up with him?
Continue reading Hey, What's Up With Topher Grace?...
Posted by Gabe at 5:15 PM in
Tags: Topher Grace
latest by Garmanbozia
September 24, 2009
[In this new feature, we will periodically check in to see what is up with Topher Grace.]
We at Videogum know as well as anyone that it can be hard in our over-mediatized world to filter out the unnecessary noise and get to the important NEWS and FACTS. Sifting through the mountains of information that are churned out every day to find what matters can literally be a full-time job, and that has been especially true when it came to Topher Grace. Until now. You're no longer on your own to wade through the treacherous waters of the internet searching for Topher Grace information. We'll do it for you. Every week or two weeks or basically whenever something is up with Topher Grace, you will be the first to know! (Technically, you will be the second to know. We will be the first to know. Or I guess, we will be the second to know and you will be the third to know? Whoever initially generates the information that we aggregate will be the first to know. And of course, Topher as the primary source sends everyone back down the line once more. But that is all semantics and complicated algorithms. And this is not a feature about semantics or complicated algorithms. This is a feature about Topher Grace.)
So? What's up with him?
Continue reading Hey, What's Up With Topher Grace?...
Posted by Gabe at 5:30 PM in
Tags: Topher Grace
latest by TheRealZOMG
