My schedule's a little topsy turvy this weekend as I'll be on monitor duty here at Press Herald Plaza. So this weekend blog will be a little succinct. But don't worry, there's still plenty to do. And for your sake don't do something stupid over the next 48 hours, otherwise I may be writing about you.

When you flip the on switch to The Scanner each week it's impossible to know what you're going to get. How else could we end up with legislators trying Cocaine, a Twitter War, gold parties and ethical questions on porn?

The answer is meh.*

(*Why "Meh?" See below.)

Trends, fads, memes, whatever you want to call them, can be an ugly and tragic thing. Sure, they seem fun at first. We all laugh the first time we're Rickrolled or see a rip-off of LOLCATs.
But the "25 Things About Me" explosion that has threatened to pull the Internet into a black hole has become an interesting - and bizarre - phenomenon.

The shelves have been stocked with this week's new DVD releases. We can only hope for lots and lots of Hugh Jackman.

Here to give a few picks, tips and a health dose of cautious enthusiasm is Videoport Jones!

Since the weather and the Oscars seemed to dominate the news this weekend (I didn't really pay much attention to either), let's run down some of the things you may have missed in the last 72 hours.

Never, ever forget that holiday weekends have two benefits: You get an extra day off, and the weekend comes a lot sooner.

A classic hip-hop battle, a Portland music jumble and the rise and fall (and rise?) of America with Alyssa Milano and a skinny guy in a rented star-spangled hat? It's all possible this weekend.

How do Michael Jackson's garage sale, the Large Hadron Collider, the Snuggie and booze "shot guns" all fit together?

In the Scanner of course. He insanity (and inanity) of a week's worth of the Interweb's best.

It's roughly300 miles between here and the University of Maine-Presque Isle. And Tim Berry is making the trip on foot. In a very, very big dress.

This week's new DVDs have hit the shelves and that means it's time to run down the best...and the rest.

As always, resident film expert (and former Massachusetts high school football great)Videoport Jones is here to lend a helpful hand.

Putting Valentine's Day on a weekend...on a three-day weekend? Oh. Wow.
It's best to prepare yourself for some sweet, angry and funky invitations over the next few days.
Also, do yourself a favor and skip the Roses. If everyone's buying them, they're not special anymore.

While some of you will be out scrambling for flowers, cards or some other stand-in for your affection on Saturday, a new national non-profit group with ties to Maine is asking you to take a minute for them.

We're careening towards the end of another week, which means it's time to round-up some of the best morsels of entertainment (and bizarreness) from around the Interwebs.

The Scanner is up and running...and has bacon. (Of course.)

You may have heard or seen some of my musings over recent weeks about creating a new podcast. The rumors and whispers are all true, ladies and gentlemen. I'm here today to tell you we've got a brand new show...please say you like it. Or I'll be crushed.

So the new DVD releases is a day off, but don't take that as a hit against the quality of this week's DVDs. If anything, it's a sign of my slacking off (and taking phone calls on a certain column.)

ANYWAY, as always, our good buddy Videoport Jones is here to offer some insight.

When I was writing Monday's column about the ongoing Saga of Thomas Manning and the City Council, I knew there was a chance I would get some angry phone calls when it hit the paper. That's part of the game when you're a journalist, but especially a columnist. People are going to call to offer up their opinions. I thought the odds would double since Manning himself didn't return my calls.

But I don't think I ever figured on getting a phone call from his mother.

I'm still trying to figure out what just happened, but the gist of it is this: Someone claiming to be Thomas Manning's mother called me and was very upset about my "malicious" attack on her son in my column.

I hope she doesn't read the reader comments.

I've fielded plenty of calls on stories and columns I've written over the years, but I think this is the first time someone's mom has called up to defend them. Mrs. Manning (or the woman claiming to be) said she simply wanted to know if I knew her son personally, otherwise how could I write such malicious things about him and his business. Her son, she continued, is a good man with a family who loves him and employees who need him.

Mrs. Manning (again, or the woman claiming to be) said that the city does not have the right to tell business owners how to run their shop, and that if her son chooses to babysit drunks then that is his decision.

Not only that, but this is just further proof that there is an agenda in this city to shut down her son's businesses, from the council, the police and the media.

Needless to say, I was thrown off my game.

Rule No. 1 of dealing with calls from readers is to always maintain your composure, no matter what they call you or have to say about your work. I told Mrs. Manning (again, or the woman claiming to be) that while I did not know her son personally, I made repeated attempts to call him for comment and get his side of the story over two days. "Even if he had left me a message saying he's too busy to talk because of work and dealing with the city, that would have been fine," I said.

Sure, I may have described her son as a "sinister, shadowy figure who stalks Wharf Street, enticing young children to sip tequila and luring wholesome and unsuspecting girls to dance on tables for tips," but that was just a little bit of the artistic license...or as I told the caller "just being a little cheeky."

Still, jokes aside, it's hard to deny the fact that this is only the latest development in Manning's public history of run-ins with the city council over how he operates his business. And that, as I pointed out, can create a public perception - right or wrong - about Manning's character.

I'm still trying to figure out what just happened. I've taken a lot of calls about my work, and especially my columns over the years, ranging from the glowing to the profanity-laced. But I do know this one is certainly a first: The first time the subject of a column's mother - allegedly - calls me up to complain about the treatment of her son.

In the meantime, sound off on the column: Fair or Foul?

Let's take a look at what you may have missed over the last 72 hours around Maine and across the country. And no, we will not be discussing The Grammys. Sorry, I just can't do it, people.

Congratulations, you've survived another week, and to celebrate, here's a few picks for weekend entertainment and the latest in profanity-laced tirades.

We like to think of ourselves as a full-service pop culture obsessed, Internet-loving, local music snooping, blog.

For the first time in a long time the Scanner was pumping out too much Internet goodness to be contained here. From Bacon Stupidity and MacGruber to bird-strike video games and politicians on Twitter.

If it keeps up at this rate I may have to start a mini daily scanner. Thoughts?

It's no secret to anyone who has spent 5 minutes online that the Internet has made snooping on your friends, family and neighbors a lot easier.
But these days, as new social networks, mobile devices and location-based applications continue to spring to life, the question is becoming "what's acceptable stalking?"

Today's line-up of new DVD releases is a little more trim than normal, it's only because we took all the good stuff.

As usual Dr. Videoport Jones, an export in all matters cinematic, is on hand to make sense of things.

In case you somehow missed out on some of my coverage of the inauguration of President Obama last week, you'd have also missed out on a little adventure I had with some student journalists from Bonny Eagle High School.

Eleven student journalists from the Eagle Times made the trip to DC to cover the inauguration for for their blog.

Over on the Political Extra I talked a bit about their thoughts on the inauguration and the morning we spent at the Newseum.

But I wanted to circle back and try and take another look at what it's like for them to be a student journalist, what it was like to try and cover the inauguration, and what they think about the future of journalism.

So what's the verdict? You'll have to listen to the new NXT Podcast to find out. You can listen in the player on the right, or download the show. And don't forget we're also on iTunes.

The show has been on a very, very long hiatus (thanks largely to the fact that I've either been gone or reassigned to special projects over the last five months) and it's time to kick start the thing again. I'm looking for show ideas and music to feature, so if you have ideas for either, e-mail me.

Would you believe today is "Buy A Newspaper Day?"

The irony...it burns.