Pop Culture Curation
Find the good stuff. Ignore the rest.
I’ve concluded that I cannot watch, read, play, or listen to all the entertainment that I would like. There is simply far too much quality entertainment. This is a good thing, but also disheartening.
Here’s a dumb example. I carved out chunks of time to watch Zack Snyder’s Justice League when it came out. It’s a long, long movie. I had other things to do in my life that did not include watching gods among mortals fight the inspiration for Thanos. It was just okay. I probably should have done something else with my time.
Still, there’s so much good stuff out right now. I mean, I could never have dreamed the amount of genre entertainment that would dominate the pop culture landscape when I was in Underoos, watching Saturday morning cartoons.
As a kid, I endured a sad Hulk television show, a poor Spider-Man television show, and tried-really-hard-but-just-not-quite-there space shows like Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. I suffered through terrible cartoons of all stripes, from Super Friends to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. At the time, these shows were peak genre television. Revisiting them today is a lesson in just how much my kid brain wanted to like these shows.
Now, it is impossible to partake of everything interesting. I can’t watch every summer blockbuster movie or critically acclaimed TV series. I can’t listen to every groundbreaking album or the latest podcast. I can’t read every new author or catch up on years of comic books. The only thing anyone can do is pick and choose what seems the most interesting. You have to make choices. For instance, I simply gave up on video games decades ago.
When I was collecting and reading comics, I wanted to have complete runs. I liked knowing I had an entire story. Still, I knew that was an impossibility for many characters. I’m never going to own every appearance of Superman or even every issue of Action or Detective Comics. I learned early on that while I might have wanted every Star Wars action figure and toy, that was a pipe dream. It turned me into less of a completist and more of a curator.
What I do now is evaluate and review, then decide whether a piece of entertainment is for me. Sometimes I wait to see if a TV show is worth diving into, especially if I’m on the fence. I stopped reading comics regularly when I could no longer keep up with storylines or characters that interested me. I haven’t bought an actual music CD in ages. However, I did get back into vinyl a couple of years ago, even though it really is an expensive hobby, and I’ve only bought a handful of albums.
While I don’t usually suffer from a fear of missing out, I still have a ton of shows to watch and books on my shelf to read. My pop culture read/watch/listen list is endless, and that’s with actively saying no to so many cool pop culture projects. There are so many TV shows I’ve watched a few of the first seasons of and enjoyed, but have not had time to get caught up, such as The Pitt, Doctor Who, Severance, Silo, Cobra Kai, Black Mirror, The Sandman, Stranger Things, Poker Face, His Dark Materials, and probably a bunch more. I know I have hundreds of comics and books I want to read, but I’m afraid there isn’t enough time.
I’m not one who “hate watches” something. I’ll criticize it, but if I’m not getting any enjoyment out of it, I’m out. I can tell you exactly what sucks about the latest incarnations of Star Wars and Star Trek, but I still enjoy what I’m watching.
On the other hand, I can go online and read blogs and watch videos from “fans” who watch their favorite franchise shows, then spend hours explaining in excruciating detail why it is the worst garbage they’ve ever seen. I don’t understand people who hate everything a TV show is doing, from characters to storylines to visual effects, and continue to watch every episode. If it sucks that badly, why watch?
I guess some of those grizzled veterans of the 70s and 80s who watched the terrible genre movies and television, hoping something magical would happen, now feel that when the actual magical things are happening, they must shit on them. I’d rather find the cream of the crop. I don’t have to experience the bad with the good. I’m not a completist or a glutton for punishment. I’m a curator, and I’ll find the good stuff, thank you very much.
Also, my good stuff might not be your good stuff and that’s okay. Author Austin Kleon discussed how to respond when confronted with the hate-watching complainers.
I’m a big fan of the phrase “it wasn’t for me” when asked about books (and music and TV and movies and so forth) that I didn’t get into.
I like the phrase because it’s essentially positive: it assumes that there are books for me, but this one just wasn’t one of them. It also allows me to tell you how I felt about a book without precluding the possibility that you might like it, or making you feel stupid or put down if you did like it.
“It just wasn’t for me.” No big deal.
The wonderful thing is that “me” is always changing. Every day you’re a different you. So when you say, “It wasn’t for me,” maybe it’s not for the “me” right now — maybe it’s for the “me” in the future.
Connecting with a book is so much about being the right reader in the right place at the right time. You have to feel free to skip things, move on, and maybe even come back later.
And you have to feel free to say, “It wasn’t for me.”
So, while we may be living in the golden age of genre entertainment, when nerd stuff is mainstream, those complainers who liked the band/the comic/the book series before everyone else are best avoided.
Find the good stuff and enjoy it. By the way, you also get to decide what constitutes the “good stuff.” Curate your own brand of entertainment and ignore the rest.
You’ll be happier about it.
Be seeing you.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2026
The 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees arrived this week. As always with this institution, the 17 names on the ballot are not all rock and roll. I roll my eyes in their general direction.
There are several rock acts among the nominees, including Oasis, Iron Maiden, the Black Crowes, Joy Division/New Order, INXS, Billy Idol, Jeff Buckley, and Melissa Etheridge. I’ll even grant you P!NK is a rock artist even though she’s mostly pop. The remaining nominees are anything but rock and roll: Phil Collins, Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill, Luther Vandross, New Edition, Sade, Wu-Tang Clan, and Shakira. Not taking anything away from these artists, but none of them are rock-and-roll acts by any measur
Mariah Carey is now up for induction for the third consecutive year. Her holiday dominance and pop chart reign are undeniable, but she isn’t a rock and roll artist. Luther Vandross was a transcendent soul singer. Wu-Tang Clan revolutionized hip-hop. Lauryn Hill’s Miseducation is one of the greatest albums of the 1990s. Shakira is a bona fide global icon. None of that is in question. What is in question every time a new list of nominees appears is why there are so many acts that are not rock and roll included?
Sure, rock and roll has always been rooted in blues, R&B, and gospel. However, that seems like a loophole for the Hall to induct virtually any popular music act from the past half-century. If everything is rock and roll, then nothing is.
In my humble opinion, none of the non-rock-and-roll-oriented acts should be inducted, and of the remaining acts, only Oasis, Iron Maiden, the Black Crowes, Joy Division/New Order, and INXS really showcase rock's popularity, longevity, and influence.
Paying Attention
It’s hard to walk the line of being informed, being outraged at the news, and not caring. I don’t get on Facebook much anymore because it’s designed to suck my attention, and I don’t want to be sucked in anymore. It’s easy to stay on the 24-hour news cycle and get outraged. Just as easy, you can watch a wasteland of “reality” TV. Better yet, get into arguments on the internet or spend all your time telling others what’s wrong with them.
I have more important things to worry about. I prefer my focus to be laser beam tight. I pay attention to what’s important.
Are you?
Be in the Moment
It is far too easy to bite back boredom with a smartphone. Of course, is that the way you want to live your life? Constantly immersed in your social feed, email, text messaging, etc.?
Life should be lived. One way to do that is by being in the moment.
Put the phone away. Keep it in your pocket. Be aware of your surroundings. Forget about the “fear of missing out” and just be in the moment. Let each moment wash over you.
You can’t control everything and, of course, you have to pay attention to the important things. Still, allow yourself to find some inner peace in the quiet or in the boredom.
Keep your direction, but stay focused on the moment. Cherish these moments. Pay for experiences if you are so inclined. Concerts are a good example of a unique moment in time. Put your phone down and let the performance unfold before you.
What a way to live your life.
Be Where Your Feet Are
I love this.
Alan Stein, a leadership and basketball performance coach who’s worked with players like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, did a TED talk on something I need to be better at―time and attention.
In the video, he explains how learning to be where your feet are can help you become more present, productive, and successful.
“Your habits are in fact a choice. You choose your habits and your habits are what dictate your happiness and your success.”
His beginning, about what he learned from watching a Kobe Bryant private workout, is great.
I recognize when someone is present and focused. I admire it in other people. In practice, for myself, I’m terrible at it. Take 10 minutes to watch. I need to watch it about ten more times a day.
