andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Jay Malinowski bought his first guitar at a vintage store for $20. He was 13 years old and had to hide it from his parents because he wasn’t allowed to have one.

“I have a way of picking things up and throwing them away immediately,” the lead singer of Bedouin Soundclash told andPOP. “Maybe [my parents] were testing me.”

Still, he knew the guitar was different. He credits his love for the instrument to an old Bob Dylan tape that his mom gave him. And lucky for 28-year-old Malinowski, the guitar suits him well.

Since the release of their first album in 2004, Canada’s own Bedouin Soundclash has been met with success. And now they have one more thing to add to their resume: their own record label, Pirates Blend. The name, Malinowski said, comes from pirate radio and its idea of people “finding their own music by whatever means possible.”

He said their goal is to sign a wide variety of artists, particularly international musicians who wouldn’t otherwise be heard in Canada.

And Malinowski has special reason to be excited about the label, because it’s about to release his first solo album, Bright Lights and Bruises, on Feb. 16.

“It’s just such a new thing for me right now,” Malinowski said of working as a solo artist. “The whole recording process was quite different.”

“I’ve caught myself using the word ‘we’ a lot,” he added with a laugh. “But there’s no one but me.”

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Madonna will be flying to Rio, the hometown of boyfriend Jesus Luz next weekend for the Samba Parade and Valentine’s Day, reports Perez Hilton.

She is the guest of Governor Sergio Cabral, and will watch the parade from his private box.

Charlie Sheen is being charged in Aspen with felony menacing and misdemeanor assault in connection with an incident with wife Brooke Mueller that occurred Christmas Day, reports TMZ. However, the case may never go to trial, as Sheen says he is open to a plea bargain that involves a misdemeanor. A bargain cannot be entered for at least 60 days, though.

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Anne Hathaway says she and her family left the Catholic church when her brother came out as gay, reports Perez Hilton.

“The whole family converted to Episcopalianism after my elder brother came out,” she said. “Why should I support an organization that has a limited view of my beloved brother?”

But Hathaway said she wasn’t happy with Episcopalianism either.

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St. Louis Rams quarterback Kyle Boller proposed to girlfriend Carrie Prejean Saturday in her hometown of San Diego, reports E! News. The ex-Miss California, 22, and the NFL star, 28, began dating last year.

Prejean was stripped of her title in the midst of controversy surrounding her anti-same-sex marriage lobbying, alleged sex tapes and a showdown with Larry King.

Many celebrities spent the weekend in South Beach for the Super Bowl, reports E! News. The CAA held an exclusive party Saturday night at the W hotel. Attendees included Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, as well as Cameron Diaz and Alex Rodriguez.

Carrie Underwood, who sang the national anthem at Sunday’s game, was also in attendance, as were Jessica Alba, Adrien Grenier and Derek Jeter.

Director Michael Bay hosted a Big Give, Big Game party for charity at his mansion that same night. CW couples Ed Westwick and Jessica Szhor and AnnaLynne McCord and Kellan Lutz were spotted there.

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Another big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Another tie-in video game. But this one has James Cameron’s name on the box, so it can’t be that bad, right?

To be fair, I had very low expectations for James Cameron’s Avatar – The Video Game. It immediately brought back horrific memories of playing through another movie tie-in videogame with a title as long as my forearm (Peter Jackson’s King Kong The Movie The Game). It has always amazed me that a videogame form of a film seems to need the suffix “The Game” tagged on to the end of the title, as if the general public wouldn’t be able to figure out that the product they are currently holding, which may say Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo on it, isn’t actually the film that’s currently in theatres, but a game based on said film. But I digress….

If you’re expecting any kind of spoilers about the movie from this game, you won’t find them. The game is set two years prior to the events of the film, and you play a forgettable character that really doesn’t matter. You have a wide range of choices at the start of the game as to your gender and race, but this has no affect on the rest of the game, as you soon become a nameless grunt stuck on both sides of the ensuing conflict on the planet of Pandora. The basic story is similar to that of the film in that the humans are on Pandora and the Na’vi don’t really appreciate them, but since this is a few years prior, things are a little less established, and the invading human force hasn’t set up such a large presence – at least, not yet.

Through the main arc of the game, you progress to fighting with the humans and then with the Na’vi, eventually allowing you to make moral choices as to which side of the conflict you feel more at home with. The problem with this is that the game makes it very hard to side with the technologically-inferior Na’vi, especially when you can pilot mech suits, use rocket launchers and flamethrowers when you’re human, and on the flipside use bows and arrows and command bees. Bees? Really? I think I know which side I’m going to be sticking with, thanks.

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Jag Season 10 is on DVD this Tuesday (Feb. 9)!

In the final season of the long-running hit series, Navy Cmdr. Harmon Rabb (David James Elliott) and Marine Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie (Catherine Bell) continue their adventures in the world of military crime. They investigate the killing of a soldier in Iraq by friendly fire, look into the drowning of a female sailor and get to the bottom of a Guantanamo Bay death. Meanwhile, Gen. Cresswell (David Andrews) becomes the new judge advocate general.

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Warner Bros. Records/Degenerate Records comic Arj Barker has released his debut comedy album, LYAO.

In LYAO, which stands for “laugh your ass off,” Arj Barker pokes fun at controversial topics ranging from gay marriages and religion to global warming and losing Pluto as a planet. Barker also points out the constant misunderstandings faced through our growing technological advancements (each track name reflects a common communication abbreviation) which can easily be remedied through fonts that convey tone, such as “Sarcastica” and “Good Times Roman.”

Arj Barker is famously recognized for appearing as Dave, Bret and Jermaine’s friend on the HBO sitcom Flight of the Conchords and as a fifth season semi-finalist on Last Comic Standing. He has made appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as well regularly headlining clubs in the US, UK and Australia. Barker has also appeared on Comedy Central Presents in 2000 and 2006, and Premium Blend. READ MORE »

YAY! 25th comic!

Well this one was way overdue since it deals with the now canceled Tonight Show with Conan O Brien.

I wanted to do several Conan comics but instead chose to stick with this one. It’s sad but at the same time rather funny drawing comparisons from the finally of Metal Gear 3.

So Conan bows out respectfully and stays loyal to his fans and saves the Tonight Show brand.

I salute you Conan- can’t wait to see what you do next.