"Pop Culture Happy Hour"

I've been enjoying the silly but thoroughly enjoyable "Pop Culture Happy Hour," a weekly podcast from NPR. 

The cast of characters includes Stephen Thompson, a regular on "All Songs Considered." 

Topics are wide ranging, but full of surprises. My favorite after about a month of shows: "Pop culture blindspot," in which the participants share their deepest secrets about popular icons they need to bone up on (confessions include opera and "a schooling in hip-hop" and "half-hour female-led quasi sitcoms, quasi dramas on premium cable"). 

Kinda snobby yes, but all good fun. 

'Bla Bla' much more than "blah blah"

There are no instructions, but users can send this character into the black hole to see what happens. I have no idea how to describe "Bla Bla" other than it's a fun, interactive web film in which you control the characters. 

What's fun is there's minimal instruction, so it's up to you to figure out what to do. Sounds annoying, but it's not. 

"Bla Bla" is six chapters long, but they go by quick. At the start of each chapter, you'll find yourself pondering what you see before diving in, then adjusting your movements as challenges arrive.

I couldn't tell you what the overall theme is, was or might be, but it doesn't matter.

Just give it a spin for fun. 

Give up an hour for 'The Hour'

BBC America has just started a terrific weekly series called "The Hour" that's a good as anything I've seen recently on free or paid TV. 

"The Hour" is centered around the launch of an hourlong news show on BBC in the mid-1950s. Swirling in and around that subject are plotlines that include spies, mysterious deaths and Britain's legendary focus on class. 

Stars include "The Wire" veteran Dominic West, whose British accent is natural here -- his streetwise Baltimore cop in "The Wire" was where he had to twist his voice. Like "The Wire," this is a strong ensemble cast with a fast-paced script. This is not a show for multitaskers. 

The series is only three episodes deep in the States so there's time to dive in while the early episodes remain in rotation.