Act like a Sideways snob for two days during the Third Annual LA Wine Fest with a smattering of other oenophiles. You can taste over 500 wines during the festival (there’s booze, too, for those of you who don’t know the difference between cabernet or chardonnay). By then end of it, you might be giving speeches about how “wine is alive,” and how you root for pinot because it’s “thin-skinned and temperamental.” Merlot fans can rejoice—the varietal has bounced back after the initial smack-down in the movie where Paul Giamatti's character whines, "No, if anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am not drinking any fucking Merlot!”

Leave it to the ladies of The View to somehow connect the dots between Amy Winehouse, anti-Semitic poets, and something Joy has termed "Restless Arm Syndrome." Following Amy's big night at the Grammys, a spirited debate broke out regarding the age old conundrum of whether or not artists should be publicly lauded if they also happen to be drug addicts. While we are thankful that those questions never get raised about bloggers, Hot Topics such as these are tailor made to bring out the best — and by best, we mean worst — in this Hasselbeck-less stable of bittys.