Week 3 Recap

Last week was another great night of competition! In Seattle, newcomers Werewolf Bar Mitzvah seized their first win. Eleven teams were within 3 points of the lead at the half, but a sprint at the finish locked up the victory. In the San Francisco division, Shoe Money Tonight posted another win. And in the middle, Portland team Bologna Nipples had a strong showing against a widening field. The season is off to a great start.

Every week we get emails and comment cards with suggestions for categories. We really do take these seriously, and we're constantly updating the schedule to achieve the right balance. Several of the requests we've received this season were actually already scheduled, but we've also added more. Our basic criteria for a category are:

• A) it's truly something that falls within the realm of "popular culture"? (Sorry to the team that asked for "economics")
• B) it's not so specific as to be too limiting in focus, such as Iron Maiden B-sides or Elton John tour dates,
• C) there must be sufficient material within the subject to generate enough questions with an appropriate range of difficulty,
• D) Is it fun?

So keep those ideas coming. They do get used! In other news, we're working on adding more functionality to the blog, such as polls. So get your RSS on and subscribe. See you Thursday for our special 80s night, which is always a favorite.

Action!

I hope everyone's had a chance to prep for tonight's big 6 category "Sequels". The Super 6 has been a great addition and we've received tons of positive feedback.

Big ups to Portland, who had 9 teams show up last week and we expect more this week! We're glad to see the word is getting out.

Today's top 5 list is Songs Which Would Enhance The Experience Of Watching Another Person Disrobe! Or simply put, stripper tunes. I'm going to forgo the obvious, tired inclusions to this list, such as Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and Joe Cocker's "You Can Leave Your Hat On", and go right for tunes that are not obvious, but still push the "filthy" button.

1) "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", D'Angelo
2) "Darling Nikki", Prince and the Revolution
3) "Suicide Messiah", Black Label Society
4) "Tape You", N.E.R.D.
5) "Moneymaker", Ludacris

Others? Again, more points for feel than subject matter.

Sound off!

Alrighty then, friends and neighbors! We've enabled comments. Feel free to sound off as you like but keep it fun and constructive. And if it's something you'd rather not broadcast via comment, you can always email at info@allstarpopculture.com and we'll get right back to you.

Week 3 SUPER 6 Hint

Kick off

So there was great turnout for last night's Seattle season opener. We saw some returning favorites as well as several new teams. The response to the changes we've made in format and presentation has been very encouraging. Plus, we've got even more stuff brewing in the lab that we're sure you'll enjoy.

One of the challenges we face in preparing the quiz is developing new categories. Some are big hits, like Poptograms and Peeing Tom, and some are whiffs, like Name That Baldwin. We rely on incredibly complicated NASA-like statistical models to determine the success of each week's categories, but all the math in the world gets trumped by player feedback. Each week we read your comments, take suggestions, and during the season we review your ratings here.

Stayed tuned for next week's Super 6 category!

Tonight, tonight, ...

Tonight the season begins in earnest here in Seattle. Last week, San Fran and the new Portland divisions posted their inaugural scores. Tonight, SFO gets a bye week, so they can relax and re-watch the season premiere of Lost and try to make some sense out of it. Benjamin Linus is definitely in my Top 5 Bad Guys and will be tough to knock out. Who else makes the list?

1) Roy Batty
2) Darth Vader
3) Hannibal Lector
4) Benjamin Linus
5) Anton Chigurh

In a great bit of 80s trivia, 25 years ago this week, two strange bedfellows announced their first offspring. Microsoft and Apple trumpeted their new suite of productivity products for the newest computer on the market, the Macintosh. But like many relationships, what seemed so pleasant and comfortable at first eventually turned south, devolving into a campaign of "anything you can do, I can do better".

I hope to see some familiar faces and some new teams tonight. Speaking of which, how many great songs can you come up with "tonight" in the title? "Heartache Tonight" by The Eagles, "Tonight, tonight, tonight" and "In the air tonight" by Phil Collins, and "Tonight, Tonight" by the Smashing Pumpins are a good start.

Meet the new boss...

Same as the old? Super Karate Monkey Death Car has secured their third ASPC championship in a row. It was a close battle through the Final Four rounds, but the heads-up match between SKMDC and Rick Rolled by the Muppets was a well-fought final. It initially looked like it would be a runaway by the defending champs, the challengers mounted a valiant charge late in the second half. Unfortunately, they couldn't overtake the seemingly unstoppable incumbents. Congrats to the Super Karate folks and thanks to everyone who participated. Be sure to give us your feedback on the event!

In the tradition of every other journalistic outlet, the new year brings that classic old saw, the Top Ten list. This week, we here at ASPC HQ compared our faves and put together a list this I'm sure no one will agree with. It was a good year for film and we had to make some tough calls.

Honorable Mentions:

The Bank Job

The Strangers

Changeling

Let the Right One in

How about you? Anything slide under the radar?

Welt Meisterschaft!

Pardon my crappy German, but the Season Championship is rapidly approaching! Saturday, January 10th at Jillian's in Seattle, four teams will collide in cerebral combat to determine who is the champeen and who needs to brush up on their US Weekly. If you are not one of the lucky ones who made the cut to compete, be sure to come out and root for your faves as well as take a shot at some door prizes.

In other news, the holiday season always brings a flurry of cinematic activity, with studios trying to garner last-minute Oscar entries and squeeze the most out of one of the most lucrative box office periods of the year. We here at ASPC HQ, driven partly by foul weather, have capitalized and screened some new releases, as well as gems we missed during the year. Stay tuned for a "Best of..." post.

Also, we're looking into integrating polls into the ASPC homepage. As always, we'd love to hear your opinions on many topics, as well as ideas for categories. Thanks again and we hope to see you all this Saturday!