I'm back...what did I miss

If you're reading this then first let me thank you for returning after my month long hiatus. I underestimated the impact that having a child would have on my blog. With that said, this is not a retirement speech. I still plan on blogging about all the ridiculous crap on TV and other pop culture items but perhaps not as regularly. Also be sure to follow me on twitter for instant thoughts at twitter.com/popwilleatme So let's start with some thoughts about things that happened while I was gone.

* Michael Jackson- Well I guess this was the biggest story of not only the summer but probably the pop culture year. I myself got caught up in the moment first by trying to keep up with the breaking news via twitter and contributing to the great web crash of 2009 via CNN.com. In the end Micheal Jackson's music will continue to be played in my house but Michael Jackson the man will be remembered as the man who taught me not to make heroes out of artists. The coverage of all this has been insane and certainly makes Princess Di look like a commoner. While the 24 hour news networks certainly get my usual disdain a special kind of venom goes out to the Jackson family for parading the kids up in front of thousands of strangers at the Staples Center and millions on TV. Mike's daughter looked so prodded and rehersed it was ridiculous.

* Summer of Death- MJ of course wasn't the only celeb to go down while I was gone. Farrah sucummbed to cancer which was sad but what's sadder is that more people will remember her as the crazy chick on Letterman and not as the pinup girl of the 70's. Meanwhile Cash for Gold spokesman Ed Mcmahon also passed. I hated Carson but thought Ed was ok. Just imagining Ed and Phil Hartman in the afterlife trying to one up each other brings a smile to my face. Then we also had Billy Mays who I would consider a celeb like Speidi is a celeb, still I'll miss that voice when I'm up at 3:30 in the morning feeding the boy. Finally we lost Walter Cronkite yesterday and I am truly saddened by the loss of one of the last great pure TV journalists. I just can't imagine Walter sitting outside the Staples Center last week.

* Summer TV Rolls On- I'll dedicate whole columns to Big Brother 11 and HGTV Design Star later this week but other shows premiered while I was gone. Bravo!'s latest scripted reality show Miami Social premiered this week and it was so bad it was bad. The faux friends feel less real then The Hills and it lacks any good villains. The drunk Russian girlfriend of one of the characters should get her own show though. Over on Comedy Central we had the extremely dissapointing premiere of Michael and Michael Have Issues. It's not a horrible show but not up to their previous efforts on Stella or The State. The jokes fall flat more often then they succeed and it's not worth a season pass. Meanwhile Top Chef Masters chugs along and while I'm enjoying it, I hope the final round of six makes for more in demand TV. On Next Food Network Star the mediocrity remains high and I remain firmly behind Jeffrey aka Captain Forehead.

* iPhone 3Gs- While I was on hiatus I also upgraded my phone to the new iPhone. While I've historically been an Apple whore, I resisted the pull of the mobile device largely due to price and AT&T's service. Thanks to my partner I got an early Father's Day present and made the jump. So far I proclaim the iPhone the greatest non-living thing ever. Both the 3G browsing and wifi browsing have exceeded my expectations and the coverage has been good. Then of course there is the video and camera. While I don't expect the iPhone to fully replace our camera or flip video cam it is an amazing tool to have at your side at all times. Lastly there are the apps. I've only just begun but I've used the app store heavily. During the last weeks of pregnancy we used multiple contraction logs. Tiger Woods Golf kept me occupied in the early mornings. The photo apps like Colorsplash and Video Up are useful and fun. Tweetie and Twittelator Pro are keeping me connected. In short I can't imagine my life without it.