Ah, we’ve reached the middle of August. I wouldn’t say that pop culture grinds to a halt around now, but I will say it takes a breather, with summer entertainment wrapping up and everything pausing before the fall cultural season gets into full swing. So, I present to you some light pop-cultural tapas in lieu of a heavy, full entrée.
*Did you see The Other Guys this weekend? Perhaps you saw a familiar site…and watched it blow up. (Spoilers, sorry.) When Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg say they’re heading to New Jersey to check out a small accounting firm, they really travel to Central Avenue in Hartsdale (the shopping plaza with Pas-Tina’s). The visit does not go well. If you have a sharp eye, parts of Albany stand in for New York City as well.
*Bronxville author Don DeLillo breaks out of his cone of silence to promote his Point Omega in The Guardian. He only mentions Westchester briefly, then goes into more detail about his childhood in the Bronx.
*A longer trailer for The Social Network has been in circulation for a while. You can view it here. It does not paint a positive portrait of Facebook founder/Westchester native Mark Zuckerberg. (Get the juxtaposition of the word “creep” in the soundtrack and his face?) Smug? Over-confident? Petulant? Yep, that sounds like someone who was raised in Westchester.
*I’ve been remiss in that I haven’t mentioned the biggest pop-culture story of the summer: Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. It surprised me that everyone was so into it—but I chalk that up to the magic of the Hudson Valley. And the Hudson Valley pitched in to make it worth talking about. There was the storybook setting of the Stanford White-designed Astor Courts (with guests staying at the stately Beekman Arms. There was the gluten-free cake from La Tulipe Desserts in Mount Kisco. And, of course, there were the people of Rhinebeck, New York, who came to town wearing Clinton masks. Way to show them our Hudson Valley hospitality!
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