Pop Culture Happy Hour: How Long Is Too Long?

Stephen Thompson — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:23:00 +0000

Half of the Pop Culture Happy Hour crew is scattered to the four winds — if, by "the four winds," you mean "an assortment of movie theaters in Toronto" — but before parting ways, the old gang met up to discuss a question that's been vexing me. What are the tipping points, I vex, that push various forms of entertainment over the line between "long enough" and "too long"?

This One's For The Chicken: A Super Bowl Party With A Purpose

Stephen Thompson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:49:00 +0000

This Sunday will mark the 16th annual installment of "Chicken Bowl," my Super Bowl party, which doubles as a grand fried-chicken-eating contest. As many as 80 friends, coworkers, enablers and hangers-on will cram into my long-suffering house for this noble occasion.

But even with all the extravagances I've cobbled together to keep them happy — large TVs, vintage arcade machines, working toilets — there has never been a shred of doubt that chicken is king.

I spend more at Popeye's on this particular Sunday than I spend on my wardrobe in a year, so great is the demand.