Pop Culture Thursdays arrive! We discuss Divas, 90s TV, and why Elycia can go f*ck herself.

Anita Baker is an Aquarius.
Gladys Knight is a Gemini.
Gloria Estefan is a Virgo. Gloria remembers the bus accident here.

Bette Middler is a Sagittarius. Siskel and Ebert gave Beaches 2.5 stars, calling it mechanical and sentimental. Watch Middler sing "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today" here.

 Cher is a Taurus. Aaron was referencing "not.com.mercial," which showcased Cher's writing and was released through her website. She took the songs to the studio in 1994, but they wouldn't release it (saying it wasn't commercial). 

 Whitney Houston is a Leo. We reference her performance of "I Loves You, Porgy" along with "And I Am Telling You" plus "I Have Nothing" at the 1994 American Music Awards. Watch that here.

 Mariah Carey is an Aries. 

 Dolly Parton is a Capricorn. See her performance of "Does He Love You" with Reba here.

 Adele is a Taurus.

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Dionne Warwick hosted the first season of Solid Gold, aided by comedian Marty Cohen, with veteran Los Angeles DJ Robert W. Morgan announcing. After Warwick left the series, singers Andy Gibb and Marilyn McCoo were brought in as co-hosts and puppeteer Wayland Flowers joined the series as a secondary comedic act with his puppet Madame. Gibb left Solid Gold in 1982 and Rex Smith replaced him, but he too would leave after one season. Following a season where McCoo hosted by herself, she left in 1984 and Rick Dees of the Weekly Top 40 radio show was hired. Arsenio Hall joined the series during this time as the in-house comedian in place of Marty Cohen. At the midway point of the 1984–85 season, Dees left Solid Gold and a series of guests were used in the interim. Original host Dionne Warwick returned toward the end of the 1984–85 season and stayed on through the following season, finally leaving the program for good in 1986.

 Susan Hallock Dey (born December 10, 1952) is a retired American actress, known for her television roles as Laurie Partridge on the sitcom The Partridge Family from 1970 to 1974, and as Grace Van Owen on the drama series L.A. Law from 1986 to 1992. A three-time Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series for L.A. Law in 1988.

James references a scene with Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) reading another woman who'd maligned her younger sister, Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) to FILTH. (Designing Women.)

James's poem, "Four Letters from SPC Elycia Loveis Fine" was first published in the spring 2005 issue of the Hiram Poetry Review under J. Allen Hall (cringe!) – and you can access that issue here. There's a really good Shane McCrae poem in the issue called "Immunity."