Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

It's the weekend (hooray!), so that means it's time for a roundup of the stories I read on the internet this week...

In Entertainment...

Pewdiepie

TubeFilter: Did you hear that Pewdipie is currently without internet and stealing it from his neighbors?  I find it beyond hilarious that the biggest star on the internet somehow doesn't have access to the web.  And does anyone think this may just be an elaborate prank from Smosh to try and get back on top of the subscriber lists?

Sibelius Blog: Oscar nominee Bruce Broughton (he may have lost one, but the Silverado nod is still intact) discussed how he came to write "Alone Yet Not Alone" and his thoughts on the rescinding of the nomination.  I know I briefly mentioned this yesterday in the Ann Romney post (check it out!), but after reading quite a bit about it this morning, I have to state that I'm becoming truly upset that this was rescinded.  It sounds like Broughton did something questionable, but in no way is different to what Harvey Weinstein or Scott Rudin do each year, and the film is being cited because it has a very small budget and because it's highly questionable whether it should have been nominated in the first place.  After a lot of thought (more than should be spent on such things), I feel fairly strongly that the Academy acted improperly here and that Broughton's nomination should stand (regardless of the actual quality of the nomination-I'm waiting to see the song within the context of the film before I decide on its merits).  After all, they didn't rescind the nominations for The Hurt Locker a few years back when they ran attack ads against Avatar.

Film Experience (link mildly NSFW): The Cesar nominations have been announced, and Julien over at the Film Experience expressed most every thought I had while reviewing the nominations so I figured why retype?  Just to call out, though, Adele Exarchopolous deserves to be in the Best Actress and not the Best Newcomer category after giving one of the best performances of the year in Blue is the Warmest Color and I am rooting for that film in general (one of the best of 2013).  About the only thing I have to add is "where is Juliette Binoche?"  Granted, I haven't seen her work in Camille Claudel 1915, but I've heard nothing but raves and if the Best Actress list is just going to be a lineup of major French actresses (Ardant! Seigner! Deneuve!), shouldn't Binoche make the cut?

In Politics...

Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau

Politico: Liza Mundy puts together a fascinating look into the life of Wendy Davis, and the incredible gender bias going on in regard to the "scandal" involving she and her ex-husband.

New York Times: I figured this was a link worth mentioning, as it's related to a topic and person we've discussed myriad times on this blog, but it's a very developing story so I'm not 100% sure where it's going: apparently, Chris Christie did know about the bridge closings, a revelation that would be a bombshell in Republican politics.  If this ends up being a larger story, I'll make sure and share more with likely a full and separate post, but this is definitely something to watch.

The Week: I'm actually oddly into financial planning lately, so probably the only mention you're going to get about the State of the Union (aside from the fact that Christie Todd Whitman was right regarding the Republican Party and women's issues) is about the new myRA.  Anyone else looking into this as a retirement option?  My inner Suze Orman found it intriguing.

Toronto Star: My fake Canadian boyfriend Justin Trudeau has done something wildly gutsy (and a little bit confounding) in Ottawa-he has expelled all 32 senators from the Liberal Party in hopes of making the Canadian Senate less partisan.  This article gives a fairly comprehensive look at the how and why behind Trudeau's plan, and since I'm not a Canadian political expert, I shall defer to it or to any readers who have an opinion on Trudeau's latest headline.  And no, this link is not just an excuse to use the above picture...for the most part.

Just One More...

M Live: Easily the oddest story I read this week came out of Michigan, where a conservative Hollywood icon endorsed Gary Glenn for the State Legislature.  On the surface this isn't shocking-Glenn is a Republican, after all.  However, the actor-in-question is Oscar winner Charlton Heston, who died in 2008.  Apparently Glenn and Heston were friends before he died, but still-does this scream wildly tacky to anyone else?