hey y’all! i’m back to blogging…here’s the first post at Your Cultured Pop
Not all of us have Pierce Brosnan for a dad. I’m sure there’s many of you who actually do, (really, look at this guy) but unfortunately you don’t know it, so your story might be similar to mine.
Growing up, my pop’s idea of high culture included The Undertaker holding his foe at the neck, dangling him above the ropes just before executing the perfect choke-slam. Okay, okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme. He did enjoy dozing off to old episodes of I Love Lucy or Happy Days and every couple years he’d show a passing interest in the latest Bond film to please my brother. He was (and is) a bright guy, the type who can Macgyver anything, an experienced chef, and a talented photographer from an era when it took actual talent to take good pictures…unfortunately for me, he passed down zero of it.As a kid, one of my best friend’s (this prickish-fuck), his father was essentially Pierce Brosnan (that prickish-fuck). I’m talking cool accent, aloof attitude, unparalleled style. Best believe Daddy Pierce passed down all of his world-dominating traits to his son.When I had to BS with the Brosnan bunch, which was often, they’d take pride in calling me out. At the end of many nights I walked away feeling like a toothless member of the Honey Boo Boo crew long before there was a Honey Boo Boo or a crew (is there a Honey Boo Boo crew? If not I’m founding it).Over the years I’ve fallen in love with pop-culture. Maybe it was the first time I saw Empire Strikes Back that did it. Or maybe it was Joe Cocker’s unbeatable Beatles cover opening each episode of The Wonder Years. Or perhaps it was Tumblr. This fucking place. This explosive, incessant stream of pop-culture can always keep me captivated for far longer than it should.Tumblr almost perfectly personifies our generation. Fast-paced, colorful, noisy. We spend hours here scrolling, searching for the next best thing we want to help define us. It’s silly, it’s crazy, but it’s fun. Unfortunately though, some of the best things get lost in ever-piling rubble.Long before there was Tumblr, or the internet with all it’s streaming services, I imagine a time when folks would really spend time with pieces of pop-culture. They’d reallllly listen to an album, they’d watch the same movie more than once. Hell, they’d even read a book.I don’t see us ever going fully back. With all this access, there’s so much as our disposal, which in turn turns it all disposable. It’s almost commendable that we wanna conquer it all, but instead of searching for the newest, coolest things, let’s add some classics into our long lists of to-do’s.When this week’s released albums suck, instead of whining about how much they suck, instead of saying you have nothing to listen to, try delving into music from before you were born. If you’ve never heard it, it’s new to you!So while my pop didn’t share this interest in pop-culture, I found a whole slew of replacement pops, my cultured pops, who always provided classic recommendations to feed my constantly craving appetite.On this blog, I intend to assemble several of those tastemakers, and share what they’ve shared with me. I wanna gather different perspectives here, to give you an eclectic mix so you’re sure to find something you dig.Someday’s it’ll be good ol’ albums, other days a great book (I take it if you’ve made it down this far, Tumblr has yet to steal your ability to read), maybe even a movie here and there (as long as it doesn’t star Pierce Brosnan).In a few short weeks the blog will fully launch featuring at least one recommendation a day. I hope the interaction here becomes dual-sided and evolves into inspiration. If there’s anything you want to share or ask, please do it. Follow for further details.your cultured pop,jared tlc
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