Reflections On The Pop Culture That Was - 2008

I’m trolling my brain for all of the things that I really enjoyed this year. Some of them have been around for a while, but I just discovered them. I’ll share them with you here but you have to promise that if you disagree with me you’ll not tell me how great the new Britney Spears album is or how important the Sex and the City movie was to you.

BOOKS

The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx– A year long slide into a drugged induced hell is chronicled by the Motley Crue bassist. The book was released in late in 2007, but I only found it this year. It’s the best thing I read all year.

Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald Westlake and A Diet of Treacle by Lawrence Block – These books were put out by Hard Case Crime. HCC is re-releasing vintage crime fiction books from masters such as Westlake and Block. Every time I see that Hard Case Crime logo I get excited and scoop up a new book.

Hit and Run by Lawrence Block – Keller, the stamp collecting hit man is back. Block is my favorite author and I enjoyed the hell out of this story.

INTERNET

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog – if you haven’t seen this yet, go check it out. It’s a three part mini-movie (42 minutes in all) about a super villain and the woman he adores from afar. The back story on it is very interesting as it was made during the Writer’s Strike. There are some amazingly catchy tunes in the movie, my favorite being Freeze Ray (Laundry Day).

LinkedIn – I signed up for LinkedIn last year, the social networking site for business. I did little with it, but have decided to use it more aggressively in marketing me and what I can do for a prospective client.

Facebook – I finally got in the groove of social networking. I also signed up for Facebook last year, but did nothing with it. Recently, however, it’s allowed me to connect with several old friends, especially three Army buddies that were a huge part of my life.

MUSIC

Motley Crue’s Saints of Los Angeles – The Crue was back this year and I loved the title track. The rest of the album was awesome as well.

Sixx A.M.’s The Heroin Diaries – This was the soundtrack to the book mentioned above. Nikki Sixx put together a band and created an amazing album that goes hand-in-hand with his story.

Buckcherry’s Too Drunk to F&^% - This is not a remake of the classic Dead Kennedy’s song (can something be classic with a swear word in the title?). Buckcherry’s tune is catchy and full of dirty, suggestive lyrics. I love it!

MOVIES

Iron Man – Yup, it’s as good as they say.

The Dark Knight – Christian Bale was excellent and Heath Ledger was the creepiest villain I’ve ever seen.

The Incredible Hulk – screw the critics. The movie was a blast.

Quantum of Solace – Bond was back. While it wasn’t as good as Casino Royale, Quantum showed why the current incarnation of Bond is the best and toughest of them all.

Tropical Thunder – Robert Downey is the man. “Just because it’s a theme song don’t make it not true.”

Mr. Brooks – Okay, this one was made in 2007, but I saw it only a few days ago on DVD. Kevin Costner plays Mr. Brooks, a serial killer who lives as a mild-mannered businessman trying to control his evil urges. William Hurt plays the embodiment of his sociopathic nature. Costner was great but Hurt stole the movie.

TELEVISION

The Big Bang Theory – it’s in its second season but I just discovered it. The show is about two nerdy physicists, their two geeky friends and the beautiful girl who lives next door. When I initially heard about the show, I thought it would be stupid beyond belief. Man, was I wrong! It’s the funniest thing since the first season of Two and a Half Men.

The Shield – this series wrapped up this year after seven seasons. It was known for pushing the limit and this season didn’t back down. The series finale was very disturbing and left images in my head that I still see when I think about the show.

Saturday Night Live’s political skits – SNL finally mattered again. Tina Fey is the sexiest woman on the planet!

Countdown with Keith Olberman – Yeah, he’s liberal. Get over it. He’s also the smartest and wittiest political commentator out there.

VIDEO GAMES (Xbox 360)

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 – Oh, man, there is a disturbing little thrill that comes from tossing a grenade into a room full of terrorists.

Gears of War – This one came out a year ago, but I was late to the party. But, damn, what a party! Big guns, bigger explosions and a bunch of creepy aliens. I’m hoping to get the second game in this series soon.


Well, that’s it. I’m sure I left out some things, but I’m out of coffee and it’s time to get moving

Let it snow, let it snow, irkkk.....

Well, Spokane has experienced the largest single day snow fall in the history of the city. This follows last year's record snow fall.

I thought for sure we'd have a mild winter here or at least an average one. But, nooooo, Old Man Winter's got to dump all over us.

I took some good pics with my camera but lost the cord to download them. As soon as I find the cord, I'll post them here for you to check out.

My Dad is Dirk Diggler

I recently found something that has turned my life upside down. I now know why I am the way I am. It took only a single picture to point it out to me.

My dad was a porn star.

Yup, you heard me. The old man was Wapakoneta, Ohio's version of Dirk Diggler (Boogie Nights, for those of you out of the loop).

Check him out.

He's the one in the white leisure suit.

He's with a whole crew of porn stars known as "The Jaycees." Man, these guys rocked the 'stache! The combination of a big bushy mustache and a leisure suit was the '70s uniform of a budding porn star.

He was the "internal director". Man, the guy was dirty!

This gang was obviously a force to be reckoned with. I'm sure that there were mothers and fathers in Auglaize county who would lock up their daughters when the Jaycees rolled into town.

How did the local cops not know what this crew was up to? Look at those guys. They were obviously freaks.

I'm afraid to now learn about coked-out, key parties he went to in the 70s. Or the disco parties he danced the "Hustle" at.

My old man hasn't smiled like that since, well, since he moved back to Ohio. I can't say more because I don't want to embarrass his girl, Cheryl.

Crap, my dad has "a girl". My dad is getting action again. He hasn't stopped his dirty ways.

And here I thought my dad was a honest joe who repressed his sexuality with archaic values. What a dolt, I was. The old man was a playa before I even knew what a playa was!

All I can say is "Playa play on!"

Box Set Mania

As I mentioned previously, I recently finished watching the final season of The Shield. What I didn't share with you is how I watched it.

No, not in my underwear with Cheetohs dust stuck to my chest hairs. (I'm not that bad, people).

No, I watched the entire final season over three nights. I had recorded the show every week on my DVR. After the series finale was recorded, I decided to sit down and watch all of the shows back to back.

Why did I do that? Because watching a weekly serial has become harder and harder. No, I haven't grown suddenly more stupid. It's because I'm spoiled.

I've been spoiled by box sets. Yes, those wonderful collections of entire seasons and/or series. I love them. There is nothing more satisfying that sitting down with a great television show (yes, there are still some out there) and watching every episode one after another.

It allows for a much quicker immersion into the characters and the show. Things that occurred in a previous episode stay front and center in your mind. And the time is better spent, because you aren't wasting time with all of those blasted commercials.

How many times do you need to be sold on the value of a Ford truck or how great a Coca-Cola would taste or how unfresh you feel until you use a disposable douche from Summer's Eve?

So, I now have a large collection of my favorite shows on DVD now. It's become so bad that I don't mind not being in the immediate loop of a show. It'll come out on DVD soon enough and when it does, I'll lock myself away and watch it.

I may be boring around a water cooler, but at least I can watch the entire season of Greg the Bunny in one day. Can you?

The Shield

I just watched the final episode of The Shield last night. Man, it was unsettling. I won’t give anything away to those readers who might not have seen it. But I do want to talk about the series.

The first episode introduced a dirty cop named Vic Mackey who would be the center point of the show for the entire run. In that episode, Vic kills an undercover cop who was out to expose him and his “Strike Team” and their dirty dealings. Vic and his crew weren’t dirty cops in the cliché mold. They were guys who loved each other and their families. They believed that cops were a family, although they often had disagreements inside. And they often did some very heroic things which often left you cheering for them, but all the while never forgiving them for their transgressions.

As the series continued, the killing of the undercover cop continued to tear at the team. The team killed others, but they were drug dealers or killers themselves, but not another cop. Each member had to come to terms with the killing and it never quit haunting Vic Mackey.

The team was investigated by Internal Affairs in the fifth season and it almost put them away. A team member was killed at the end of that season because another team member thought he was going to rat them out. That was the straw that finally tore the team apart. They would never recover.

The final season was a slam bang ride of the downward spiral of Vic and his Strike Team. The remaining team members were losing it. Vic became less of a sympathetic character by the end of the final season. I stared sadly at the television screen as each episode progressed and Vic came apart more and more, finally compromising the one remaining friend he had so he could save his skin. But it all made sense and, while I was sad to see it end, it was a logical and fairly satisfying end.

I got into The Shield when I was still a cop. I had seen previews of the show on FX I immediately wanted to see it. I write short stories where the good guys are never that good and the bad guys are sometimes heroes. I knew the show was going to be right up my alley and I was right.

I remember my wife going to an orientation program for the spouses of officers during my rookie year. The show had just started and was already receiving rave reviews from the mainstream press and less than favorable response from the law enforcement world. The Chief of Police at that time (a man I looked at and still do with great respect) told the spouses that anybody who liked The Shield had a problem and he hoped none of his officers watched it.

Well, I not only watched it, I loved it. And I’m sorry to see it go. But as with everything, life must go on.

"The Kid"

I just traded a couple emails with a buddy of mine from high school. He mentioned that his baby daughter is now 16 months. It blew my mind how fast time is slipping away from me.

To prove my point, I still find myself thinking of my step-daughter, Sarah, as this goofy 8 year-old kid. Maybe I always will although she will never be that kid again.

She's changed so much over the past two years that it blows my mind.

The first picture is of Sarah at 15 years. I thought the kid was too pretty for her own good. Loser teenage boys were starting to take notice of her and I didn't like that at all.

The second picture of her is at 17. All men are taking notice of her now and I definitely don't like that at all, either!

What the hell is a guy supposed to do when his daughter grows up to be beautiful?

I am so proud of her but at the same time, holy crap, I have a lot of worries about the idiots who will some day be her boyfriends.

Yes, I am pre-judguing them all in a grumpy old man way. And I'm okay with it.