Pepperpot: Links for Friday

For your “Friday afternoon before a long weekend/trying to look busy”, here are some good reads. This post is brought to you courtesy of the deep-fried Mars bar I had last night at the CNE yesterday. That's one food I'm glad I tried, but can now mark it off the "Try It Once" list:

What’s Alan Watching does a guest post at House Next Door on his "5 for the Day: Underdog Sports Movies". I have to say it inspires me to go out and re-rent Diggstown and Major Leagues: “F*ck you Jobu, I’ll do it myself.”

Alan has just finished a terrific number of posts as he re-watched the entirety of Judd Apatow’s brilliant coming of age series Freaks & Geeks. He has detailed write-ups and analysis on each episode here.

Jenster at No Such Nonsense has her annual NFL Rundown: This Year's Big Questions post up. Go check it out and give her some feedback (Lord knows I can’t provide any). Having known Jen for years, she knows her stuff.

The list of musicians playing the U ofT and Ryerson university frosh week shows is pretty damned good. Torontoist breaks it down: Hidden Cameras and Stars play on Sept 7th on the U of T campus, while the more private Ryerson party on Centre Island (student ID cards required for entry) has M.I.A. , You Say Party! We Say Die! and k-os. M.I.A.? That’s a big “get” for Rye High. I think we had Treble Charger and Lowest of the Low playing our frosh week in the way back when.

Comic book fans rejoice Rob Schrab has announced he will be completing cult fave Scud the Disposable Assassin finally, 10 years after the penultimate issue. When last we left Scud, the robotic assassin was cradling the dead body of his one true love, was told by the angels of Heaven to kill the Earth. The last line: “I’ll do it”, and then no next issue as Rob went through some rough times. You can read Rob’s full account on just what the hell happened here. He’s back and better than ever now, so I’m looking forward to this long-awaited conclusion.
For more of Schrab’s work and Scud updates, keep checking out www.robschrab.com
(via Newsarama)

I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane with The AV Club lists 15 television sensations whose popularity faded fast, like The O.C. and Ally McBeal. So Heroes and Lost should take note. This article is also a good argument that it’s better to have a good show with a short perfect run (Arrested Development, Freaks & Geeks, Spaced) than to watch it eventually fade away into a lesser-version of itself (Also known by Alan Sepinwall as “Leave A Good Looking Corpse”).

Big surprise: World Wrestling Entertainment has suspended 10 of their performers connected to an Albany, New York investigation into the Signature Pharmacy outlet based out of Florida. No names of the wrestlers have been released but a 30-day suspension means that they’ll be absent from T.V. As of November 1st, any talent that is suspended will be identified publicly. You know that anyone who defended the WWE’s “Wellness Policy” in the wake of Chris Benoit’s murder-suicide has zero credibility right now. (Names of the wrestlers involved in the investigation can be found here.)

And some bands whose music I’ve been really enjoying lately: The National, Tegan and Sara, Shout Out Louds, The Hold Steady, and the new Stars album “In Our Bedroom After The War” is really good.