Media and Pop Culture I am Thankful For 2020

2020 has not turned out the way any of us could have imagined but that does not mean there aren’t things to be thankful for. Of course I am thankful for all of my family, friends, health etc. but this is the Going Off Topic blog and with that in mind we are going to throw a twist in the idea. Let’s look at some of the media and pop culture I am thankful for.

Sports

Liverpool EPL Champs

1. Patrick Mahomes: I don’t know what I can say about Mahomes that hasn’t already been said. The guy is a once in a generation talent and led the Chiefs to their Super Bowl since 1969. I was born a St. Louis Rams fan but the Chiefs were always my 1b. I have a lot of friends from KC that I met during college, but my grandpa was a die hard Chiefs fan when I was growing up. Unfortunately, he passed a number of years ago but when that final second ticked off the clock in the Super Bowl I was overcome with emotions knowing he was the reason I was a Chiefs fan

2. Liverpool FC: I was never the biggest soccer fan but decided a few years ago to really follow a team. Shoutout to friend of the network James Schneider, he picked Liverpool for me and it has been a blast ever since. Champions League winners followed by English Premier League winners; it has been a great couple seasons. Off to an awesome start this year and with a great core of players. They will be a team I am thankful for for years to come

3. Fantasy Football: I am almost scared to mention this but I am dominating the 3 fantasy leagues I am in currently (9-1, 8-2, and 7-3). By far the best season I’ve had recently. If I end up not winning I will know exactly what moment to look back on…

Movies

Nic Cage

1. Caddyshack: Arguably my favorite movie of all time, featuring outlandish performances from Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and Ted Knight. I have seen this movie at least 100 times and it never gets old. If you haven’t seen it you are missing out

2. Nic Cage: You all knew he was going to show up on this list eventually. The man is a gift to all of us and you better start giving him his due.

3. Coco: Probably my favorite Disney movie of all time and in my top 5 favorite movies of all time. A fantastic story with a great message, great songs, and just an all around good time.

Music

Koffee

1. Mac Miller: I loved Mac the first time I listened to him and it is such a bummer we will never get more music from him. RIP to one of my favorite artists of all time.

2. Add-2: Shoutout to Duggs from the ABC Network for this recommendation. A rapper that released one of the best and most real albums last November titled Jim Crow the Musical. This album is so incredibly potent and on point with what is happening in America at this moment. Everyone needs to listen to this and learn something.

3. Koffee: I found out about Koffee from NPRs’ Tiny Desk Concert podcast series. She is a reggae artist from Jamaica that I grew to really like. She is on Apple Music and Spotify, I highly recommend giving her a listen. You just don’t see many new reggae artists these days but what a great music genre.

Podcasts

Higher Learning

1. Anything But Credible Network: Anything But Credible, Offended, and Going Off Topic podcasts, duh.

2. Higher Learning: Hosts Rachel Lindsey and Van Lathan discuss the biggest topics in black culture, politics, and pop culture. The chemistry between these two is perfect and, being a white male from the Midwest, some of the topics they cover are things I would never hear about or discuss. I love this podcast and look forward to every episode they release.

3. Code Switch: From NPR this podcast is described as “the fearless conversations about race that you’ve been waiting for.” Hosted by people of color they discuss how race impacts politics, pop culture, history, and everything in our life. Much like Higher Learning it is an incredibly important podcast to listen to given the time we are in living in.

Pop Culture

Sneaker Culture

1. Sneaker Culture: Earlier this year I got added to a couple Facebook sneaker groups (again shoutout to Duggs) and my life hasn’t been the same. I always liked sneakers but never knew how deep the culture went. I found out about StockX (a secondary market for sneaker sales) and in the last few months have already bought 3 pairs of sneakers (with a lot more on the way). There is a huge culture out there and it is so interesting to be a part of it. — Ellen tidbit… Ya’ll, he has honestly fell off the deep end with this shoe obsession… We have a freakin’ shoe display in our damn living room so do with that information what you will. I showed him the “Shoes” video from ‘07 because he needed an intervention. As you can see it didn’t help. I think it only heightened his love of shoes. “Oh my god, shoes”.

2. Craft Beer: Kind of like the sneaker culture above, a new craft beer place opened by our house a few years ago. I randomly found myself walking in one day and my life was forever changed. As a domestic beer
   drinker for most of my life, I had no idea all of these types of beers existed.
   I love going to the Craft Beer Cellar every few weeks and trying out some
   of their new stock.