Two and a half years ago I started a personal blog called The Upper Deck. I quickly discovered that having my friends contribute to the blog was much more fun than going solo (evidenced by the Sitcom Character Fantasy Draft) and it turned into more of a community thing.
A few months later, Corey Chapman and I met at a restaurant halfway between Syracuse and Rochester and plotted the course for a new website. It would be built on the same type of retro-pop culture that I had blogged about, but since we’d eventually run out of G.I. Joe and He-Man list ideas, we’d cover current topics as well. Corey would pilot the accompanying podcast, which he aptly suggested would be a great compliment to the website, and I would tackle writing, editing, and recruiting contributors.
Why am I giving you this history lesson? Because sometimes I feel like we wanted to unleash something so big on the world (#dickslam) that we lost sight of just blogging. We (mainly I) forgot that it’s OK to just write something brief about something interesting. It doesn’t always have to be a Top 50 list or a contrived “Why __ is the Best Thing of ALL TIME” article.
Often when I see news break, for instance, two examples from last week: the Walking Dead spinoff and the Agent Carter tv show, I think “No one cares what I have to say about it and I’d be the 87 thousandth blogger to post a link to my thoughts on Facebook & Twitter today” so I do nothing. Surely you understand. Most times, I’m honestly more concerned with reading what my favorite sites have to say about it instead of getting my own thoughts posted.
But I do want to do more “blogging”, and I want this to be a place where people share thoughts, loves, hates, etc. Inspired by this recent post on a site I love, here are some random thoughts and pictures I couldn’t squeeze into other posts:
It’s clear that I love ‘the villain’, (I bought 3 prints at RetroCon, all of villains or a combination of villains) but I think I prefer morally questionable ne’er do wells over straight up ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guys. Three of my favorite pop culture characters of all time have at certain points shown a glimmer of a moral compass but for the most part are known for their bad (but wildly entertaining) choices. The three I’m thinking of:
Speaking of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, if I could make one global change that didn’t involve ending wars or hunger or animal cruelty, it would be that everyone has entrance music that automatically plays when they arrive somewhere. You know it would be amazing.
If you were to glance over the drafts in this site’s dashboard (ideas for posts, posts that are under construction) you’d see a lot of topics that I want to write about but no one wants to read about (judging by experience). Those topics include:
- The Spice Girls
- Three’s Company
- The Golden Girls
- the folly of TV doctors
- Muppet Babies
- Three Amigos
- ESPN’s Bodyshaping
So if anyone is aware of a Three’s Company subreddit* in which eager readers are willing to upvote** a list of The 5 Most Awkward Three’s Company Misunderstandings, then I*** will get that written. Otherwise it’s not worth the time and research. Not that watching every ep of the show is ever a bad thing.
*not sure if this Reddit term is correct, I’m not a seasoned Redditor
** see above
*** with the aid of my Three’s Company blogging partner, Will West
Speaking of, Reddit is the scariest source of web traffic ever. When I see that someone shared something of mine on Reddit and it’s getting views, I wait for the inevitable flood of “worst list ever”, “author is a cunthammer” comments. And if you create something and it gets shared on Reddit, never EVER read the other Redditors’ comments below it. EVER. Apparently that site is where people go when they feel like they haven’t hated enough things that day and need to take a rage piss on something someone else is proud of.
I have no idea why, but for the last 3 years or so I think about the Christmas episode of Who’s The Boss pretty regularly. Like at least once a week, all year long. Again, I have no idea why, and I couldn’t even outline the episode’s plot for you, but the sweaters and the general holiday feel of the ep stick out in my mind, way too often. I think there was multiple Christmas-themed eps of WTB, but after searching YouTube, here’s the one I probably think about:
If you’re reading this, you probably know me pretty well by now. What non-household name stand up comedians would I like? I’m on a huge stand up kick lately, as my wife and I recently traded cars and now I have Sirius. It pretty much stays parked on stations 95-100, but I still seem to discover fantastic new comedians every day. A quick list of my favorite current performers not named Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer or Daniel Tosh would probably go: Hannibal Buress, Anthony Jeselnik, Nick Kroll, Kyle Kinane, Owen Benjamin, Michael Palascak, TJ Miller (seriously those lazy phone ads are ridiculously great- “someone liked your status”).
I’m sure I’ll remember 3 more as soon as I get in the car.
1. I’ve gotten Reddit love a couple of times. You are 100% correct.
2. Also there are many times where I think about writing some small post about something and I think, man everyone else has written about it, why the heck would anyone care what I think? I think the difference between me and you doing that is that people actually read your site 😛
Glad I’m not alone in those thoughts. I was always afraid I was the old man who just didn’t get Reddit but it seems like others see it that way too. And I’m not convinced people (outside of our circle) read this site, they just google images, we get a visit but they don’t stay, share, subscribe, read, etc. And they certainly don’t comment. Which is why I genuinely appreciate those who do!
Reddit is too ugly and mean for me to use with any regularity.
Unfortunately, comments aren’t as popular as they once were. With the advent of Twitter and Facebook people just comment there. It’s still a measure of success for me. Doesn’t feel “real” unless someone acknowledges they read it and leave feedback.
I love the Hell out of Hannibal Buress. Are you listening more to Comedy Central Radio or Raw Dog? I’ve reached the point where I feel I’ve listened to everything CC Radio has to offer for now, so I’ve gone back to Raw Dog except for the CC Drive Home. Kyle Kinane is amazing, and I wanna hear more Nick Kroll. His “Daddy, who was Michael Jackson?” bit is hilarious. TJ Miller’s standup is good, but those rap tracks get old after awhile. I’m trying to figure out if he just recorded an entire rap album with Pete Holmes, ’cause there’s like 10 of those songs!
Buress rules. The sound quality is terrible though on like half of the sets they play on CC Radio. That Michael Jackson set was the first Kroll standup I remember hearing, before that I knew he did standup but had only seen him in shows. Have you heard the one where he talks about cropdusting the DMV? I’m with you, those songs of Miller’s I can’t take. They play a few things like that, if it ain’t Lonely Island I tune out “funny songs” quick.
I think if you drop Spice Girls and Bodyshaping from that list, you’re sitting on gold…at least to the people who regularly visit this site. But that’s just me, maybe some people have a Bodyshaping addiction.
I kinda feel the same about “why bother blogging what everyone’s talking about” but on the other hand I think I post too much just about stuff I’ve picked up lately and not enough pop culture in general.
Hah, yeah the Bodyshaping was gonna be a “Things You Watched When You Stayed Home From School” post but there’s just no good images/screenshots available being such an “old” show.
I guess ultimately we blog what we want and if people like it they’ll click/share. Bottom line is it’s a hobby so it should always be fun, right?
Yep, if it ain’t fun, don’t do her…I mean it! It! Don’t do it!
I’m not saying I used to watch Kiana’s Flex Appeal, but I used to watch it
http://youtu.be/WUm681U7lQs
Kiana’s Flex Appeal was very, very important to me.
A keystone moment in our male development, to be sure.
Who wouldn’t enjoy The 5 Most Awkward Three’s Company Misunderstandings? People I don’t want to know, that’s who. If you build it, they will come.
(Most Idiotic Misunderstandings might be funnier…)
I would definitely always be down to read more Three’s Company stuff!
Love the entrance music idea or like “walk-up” music in baseball when players come to the plate. I always chuckle when I remember in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka when he has a band following him around and says, “Theme music, every good hero should have some.” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3oeAlOtbkE)
Having a full time “real” job and having the blog as a hobby, I certainly relate to the problem of often feeling late bringing my opinion on something. By the time I have time to formulate the blog post (or even a Tweet sometimes) it has been well-covered by many, so I often abstain. If I was a full-time blogger, I feel like that wouldn’t be as much of an issue. So I share what I find interesting when I can, try to add to the pop culture landscape in my own way and celebrate all that do the same.
I wish Three’s Company was on Netflix- I would watch old eps more often, and it’d be easier to grab screenshots for articles. I agree though, to this day it’s still a fun show to read about.
TVLand runs eps on early mornings on the weekends. But they switch it up every couple months.
I’ve caught a couple episodes late night on the “Antenna TV” channel which is broadcast in our local market. They play alot that’s not on Netflix.
I’ve struggled with the same stuff all the time. The only way I would be able to do what I truly want on RD80s is to quit my job. I’ve also got the same mentality of writing for a blog more than a website. Can still do the lists but also post like update type stuff and reactions to content rather than creating content.
Cunthammer…
Speaking of that…have you seen this UK mug?
http://www.consideritdesign.com/product/unt-mug-with-black-handle
hahaha! I love potty-mouthed tankards.
I hear they’re opening for Metallica on the southern leg of their U.S. tour..