Pop Chart

SPELL-CHECK EDITION

GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK

Snigdha Nandipati

Correctly spelled guetapens to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Mitt Romney

Championed “A Better Amercia” on his With Mitt mobile app.

ODDITIES

Cry Me a Condiment

If harvesting tears for salt sounds too weird to be true, that’s because it is. British gag shop Hoxton Street Monster Supplies invented the gimmick to sell seasonings (and delight Pop Chart reporters). The flavors are real, but the tears aren’t–go ahead, cry about it.

FEMMES FATALES

Helmut Newton’s striking black-and-white portrayals of couture-clad and nude women–on display through Nov. 18 in his hometown of Berlin–startled the fashion world in the mid-1970s. Now, similar images are de rigueur on the pages of Vogue.

CELEBS

They’re Baaaaack

All the world’s a stage–even after you’re dead. That’s the new reality for celebs like Tupac Shakur and now Marilyn Monroe, who’s set to star in a virtual live show. Who should be hologrammed next? We polled TIME’s Twitter followers.

TWEET VS. TWEET

Drake is a rapper who likes to self-reflect. T. Boone Pickens is an 84-year-old oil tycoon. Thanks to the magic of Twitter, this happened.

The first million is the hardest.

The first billion is a helluva lot harder.

@boonepickens just stunted on me heavy.

@drake

@boone pickens

Janis Joplin

“The woman just deserved more time to rock.”

–@lunahumming

Amy Winehouse

“Eclipsed before her time could come.”

–@vikaasssahay

James Dean

“Doing nothing but enjoying a cigarette.”

–@LiveLikeFerris

Michael Jackson

“Because of his onstage moves and stunts.”

–@dirap4MUFC

Freddie Mercury

“Best showman of all time. OF ALL TIME.”

–@serdarsirin

WATER WORKS

Brooklyn-born artist Alex Katz, who turns 85 in July, has painted many scenes of American leisure and recreation. So it’s fitting that his seascapes–like 1984’s Eleuthera, above–are among the works on display at the Tate St. Ives museum in Cornwall, England, located beachside. The exhibition, called “Give Me Tomorrow,” runs through September.

I NY

TOURISM

Heartless

I Fishing NY? I Pizza NY? The options are endless, thanks to a new tourism initiative. TV and online ads sponsored by New York State invite anyone to rethink the classic I NY slogan, subbing for the heart whatever they want–much to the dismay of Milton Glaser, the original logo’s designer, who said he doesn’t “get” the campaign. I NY, anyone?

QUICK TALK

Shaquille O’Neal It’s been just over a year since the NBA’s most affable player retired from the game. Now Shaq’s trying to be a full-time funnyman–bringing back his All-Star Comedy Jam tour, shooting the humor flick Grown Ups 2 (out in 2013) and curating gadgets and toys for e-commerce site OpenSky. Here, he yuks it up with TIME.

On the court, your size is a huge advantage. That’s usually true in comedy too. Do you ever pose with small things just for laughs? Oh yeah, all the time. Like what? The smallest guy I’ve ever been next to was Mini-Me, Verne Troyer. And the biggest guy was Khali, the giant wrestler dude. I make all my comedians offers they can’t refuse. At some point in the past 20 years, you’ve been an athlete, actor, rapper, announcer and even a police officer. Why the long-term focus on comedy now? It’s a big stress reliever. And I love making people laugh. I’ve always been particularly funny. And modest too. Yeah, it’s just–at Lakers games, one of my favorite people, Adam Sandler, used to be like, Shaq, you’re one of the funniest guys I know, I’m gonna put you in a movie. Now you’re shooting Grown Ups 2, right? Yeah. I was nervous ’cause it’s with Adam, David Spade, Chris Rock. So I just put myself in basketball mode. It was like being on the court with Michael Jordan. And I had those guys rolling. Oh yeah? Wait till you see it–it’s gonna be the funniest movie ever.

3 THINGS YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THIS WEEK

1. Your 8-year-old having no Facebook friends.

Rumor has it that Zuckerberg and Co. are revamping the social network to allow children under 13, presumably with parental supervision.

2. Finding a better remote control.

The handset for Nintendo’s newest gaming console, the much hyped Wii U, features a built-in touchscreen that lets you play games and channel surf.

3. The walking dead.

Following a week of bizarre cannibalistic crimes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement to assure Americans that a zombie-virus outbreak is exceedingly unlikely.