Are you guys watching Hung, the new HBO comedy about a well-endowed high school teacher who moonlights as a hooker? I am, and every time I laugh, I feel kind of guilty. The show really brings out my cruelest streak. 

To find out why, just check out my essay over at NPR’s blog Monkey See.

Welcome to your Friday iPod Quiz.

The Rules: Critical Condition reader Sarah G has put her iPod on shuffle. After the jump, she will list 30 lines from the first 30 songs that it plays. You provide artist and title. (Note: She will not necessarily list the first line of the song.)

Please don’t look up the lyrics on the web. That’s lame.

And please don’t provide more than three answers per day. That way, more people can play.

The Answers: Will be posted in the comments section of this post next Friday. You can find the answers to last week’s quiz here.
Now let’s do this thing!
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Please welcome back the one and only Doug Strassler, critic and movie buff. He’s here to take us through 1971 in the The Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine that the new Oscar rule of nominating ten films for Best Picture applied from 1943 to 2008.

Looking at this list, I realize that 1971 was a seriously fine vintage for American cinema, and I’m excited that I’ve actually seen a lot of these movies. That way, I can nod my head with geeky certainty when Doug makes a good point.

(To visit the rest of the Project, please go here.)

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I’m proud to announce that I am today’s guest poster over at The Amateur Gourmet, the fabulous food website-cum-publishing-and-Food Network-sensation run by my friend Adam D. Roberts.

So head on over to check out my thoughts on Top Chef Masters. It’s no Top Chef, but it still brings something unique to the reality competition table.

And while you’re there, I encourage you to take a look around the site. Even if you’re not a foodie (which I’m not), it’s totally entertaining.

I’m pleased to direct you to Live 2.0, the idea-driven website overseen by online ticket seller Goldstar.com. Currently, the site is asking questions about the audience for live events—who are they, where are they, how can they be reached?

As part of the discussion, they asked me to write this essay about the changing nature of gay audiences. I’m really happy with what I wrote, not least because I mention gay NASCAR fans. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the piece!

Have you guys noticed this YouTube wedding video that seems to have partially rehabilitated Chris Brown’s career? In case you haven’t seen it, this is the clip…

I’ve got to say… I really, really wish I had been part of this wedding party. I would’ve rocked it, you guys.

Apparently, lots of other people feel that way, since this video has been getting lots of media attention. It’s generating so much goodwill, in fact, that Chris Brown’s “Forever,” which is the song those crazy kids are dancing to, has rocketed back into the iTunes top ten.

That’s a remarkable turnaround for Brown, whose career has flatlined since he was charged with assaulting Rihanna. How ironic that a celebration of a couple’s love is what got a girlfriend abuser back on the charts.

But does “Forever’s” surge mean that Chris Brown is viable again, or does it simply mean that this YouTube video is connecting so profoundly with people that they’re willing to forget who’s singing the song in order to celebrate what they’ve seen?

It’s worth noting that “Forever” is Brown’s only resurgent song, despite the fact that he released a video apology for attacking Rihanna. To me, that says it really is the video, and not Brown, that people care about, and once this fad passes, his career will be back in the basement.

What do y’all think?

Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments on this week’s episode of True Blood.

Um… remember last week, when I worried the show was slowing down? Well, “Heard-Hearted Hannah” has settled my hash. There are so many sucker-punchy scenes in this installment that I could get carpal tunnel syndrome writing about them all.

For more, join me here at The Huffington Post.

Hey y’all… It was just about one year ago today that The Critical Condition officially launched.

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic year! This site gives me a crazy amount of joy, and that’s largely because all of you have helped make it so great. Your thoughtful, challenging, and inspiring comments have allowed me to be part of some truly incredible conversations about our culture, and that is a dream come true.

Welcome to your Friday iPod Quiz. 

The Rules: I have put my iPod on shuffle. After the jump, I will list 30 lines from the first 30 songs that it plays. You provide artist and title. (Note: I will not necessarily list the first line of the song.)

Please don’t look up the lyrics on the web. That’s lame.

And please don’t provide more than three answers per day. That way, more people can play.

The Answers: Um… sorry about the delay for last week’s quiz. I just posted the answers a few minutes ago. You can find them in the comments section here. 

So let’s say this… answers for this week’s quiz will appear in the comments section next Friday. That seems reasonable.

Call for Quizzes: It seems like people are still interested in playing the iPod Quiz, so I’d love to have yours. If you want to submit a quiz, just e-mail it to me. You don’t have to include the first line from the song. Any line will do. I will post quizzes as quickly as possible, though it may take several weeks, depending on the number of submissions received.

And now… let’s do this thing.

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You guys, am I a curmudgeon? I wouldn’t have thought so, but then I learned about this fifteen year-old singer named Justin Bieber and started worrying that I’m a crotchety old man.

Because honestly? I think it’s ludicrous for some Canadian boy, whose voice hasn’t even changed yet, to be singing about his “shawty.” Yet that’s exactly what Bieber does in “One Time,” a song that is selling well on iTunes and has started climbing the pop charts. I can’t embed the offiical video, but you should take a look. Bieber comes across like the modern day version of Pat Boone: A squeaky clean white kid who’s appropriating as many elements as he can from African-American culture, desexualizing them, and then waiting for hordes of young girls (and closeted gay boys) to go bonkers

I mean, I guess we’ll stop having pop stars like this when the rain stops falling from the sky—lord knows, Justin Timberlake was the Bieber of his day—but I’ve never been so annoyed by the trope before.

So here’s my question: Is there something about Justin Bieber that’s especially irritating, or am I just a sour senior citizen now?

I don’t think it’s the latter. I like that one Jesse McCartney song, and he’s basically Justin Bieber plus seven years. And Bieber is being groomed by Usher, which means the whole racial appropriation thing is less egregious than it was in Boone’s day.

Maybe my biggest problem is that I don’t like watching or listening to prepubescent children playing dress up. Honestly, if Bieber’s voice had broken, I bet I’d be less annoyed, since he might then seem mature enough to sing this song sincerely. Well, as sincerely as you can ever sing a song about your shawty.

 I turn to you, readers of The Critical Condition. What are your thoughts on Justin Bieber?