1. Piegate & The Slap
A British parliamentary hearing Tuesday into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal turned into a gong show when comedian/activist Jonnie Marbles live-tweeted his custard pie toss at media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who was eating humble pie for his paper’s wrongdoings. Murdoch’s wife, Wendi Deng, became an instant hero, leaping up and directing an epic slap at Marbles. Girl power!
2. Justin Bieber The Wedding Crasher
It didn’t have the comic effect of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, but nonetheless the “Ohmigod!” factor was huge when Justin Bieber and girlfriend Selena Gomez (who turns 19 today, FYI) crashed a Malibu wedding party last weekend. The Biebs tweeted after the fact, “WEDDING CRASHERS last night! hahaha. too funny. crazy story.”
3. Ottawa Bluesfest
Cheap Trick brought the house down literally on Sunday night during a performance at Bluefest. A huge storm suddenly blew in out of nowhere, knocking the entire stage down while they were playing. The band managed to get off the stage just before it crumpled to the ground. This incident gives new meaning to their classic hit Surrender.
4. Moneyball
Brad Pitt’s Moneyball, based on the 2003 bestseller on the analytical, sabermetric approach to assembling a winning Major League Baseball team, comes out in September. And even though Moneyball’s myths are exposed in a new book, The Beauty of Short Hops: How Chance and Circumstance Confound the Moneyball Approach to Baseball, a Brad Pitt baseball movie will be a box office home run.
5. World Cup Final Breaks Tweet Record
The women’s final between Japan and the United States set a new record for tweets per second (7,196), beating other events like the Royal Wedding, the Japan earthquake/tsunami, Osama bin Laden’s death and the Super Bowl. Only the Leafs in a playoff game could beat this record.
7. Lollapalooza Turns 20
The 20th anniversary edition is coming up August 5 to 7 at Grant Park in Chicago, and while the festival has gone mainstream (Eminem and Coldplay are part of this year’s lineup) from its alternative/grunge roots, it’s great to see it thriving again. Go to Lollapalooza.com to check out the special video series they’re doing to commemorate the anniversary.
