One-Year Anniversary Post!

Hey Oh!

It's been a whole year already somehow, and let me tell ya, what a nonstop thrill ride it's really been. What started as a wannabe film nerd's ramblings about pop culture has...not evolved beyond that point at all. I hope the site is pretty enjoyable for all of you out there in the Informosphere, for the One-Year Anniversary this current minute I thought I'd take a well-deserved self-indulgent look at my Personal Top Six Posts. Here we go:

#6: Guessed Impressions: Clash of the Tittans - 06 Apr 2010

I do a lot of what I call Impressions of films on this site, which are distinct from reviews. Reviews tell you whether or not a film is good or bad. My impressions are more a chance to just talk about a movie. I believe you can inherently judge a film this way, but avoid giving it a letter grade, thumbs up or down or even a recommendation on seeing it or not. Impressions allow me to just ramble on what that particular film IS.

Anyway, doing Clash of the Tittans (2010) was pretty fun because to date I still haven't seen the damn thing and I still contend my Guessed Impressions are pretty accurate. It's not hard to guess what a film like Clash of the Tittans is going to be about or even how it is going to make me feel, which in many ways is largely a major theme of Norwegian Morning Wood, the innate absorption of Pop Culture into our collective consciousness.

#5: Because it was on TV: The Cultural Synthesis of the Venture Bros, Parts I & II - 25 Oct and 01 Nov 2009

Of all my Television Observation posts this was one of my most succinct, in general here you'll find the small handful of posts where I actually typed out exactly what was going on in my head. The Cultural Synthesis of The Venture Bros. truly parallels a lot of what Norwegian Morning Wood's observations are about, the different ways Pop floats into our lives, emerges on screen and ever since shows like this and movies like Knocked Up (2007) came out, make us laugh to realise. Shows like Robot Chicken and Family Guy exist entirely on this principle. No other show filters and floats around Pop ideas better than The Venture Bros, though.

I also like my excuse for posts like these - c'mon, it's because it was on TV.

#4: Terminator 4 and the Blessid Failure of Major Franchises - 01 Dec 2009

This is one of the few legitimate points I've ever made here. Like it or not, the idea that a franchise like James Bond, Godzilla, Spider-Man or Terminator can never be ruined because there has already been an incredibly awful entry into the canon is important. It should be a big relief and shift hopes and expectations for all of nerd culture.

#3: On Pop Culture - 04 May 2010

This had to be here, this post provides the rationale for the majority of posts on the entire site (especially the Summer Banality). It's also got a lot of references and commentary concerning the composition of art, citations to Star Wars Novels and George Hegel. It's focus is Art and Philosophy, which is always a big goal of mine - to reflect and determine what truly is the merit of any instance of Pop Culture. Is it all truly worthless or is mass appeal in itself a moving and interesting art form? It's a question this blog attempts to wrestle with.

#2: First Impressions: Inglourious Basterds - 24 Aug 2009

What makes this rise above the rest? I mean, sure the Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) Impressions were pretty good, but like I said before, I rarely sit back from a post and think I've said everything I could in a thoughtful and meaningful way. I nailed the Inglourious Basterds (2009) post. I felt like I "got" that movie immediately and could write it down in articulate words very easily. Thus, this post is a well-written commentary on a film that most approaches anything substantial you'll find anywhere else. It lacks a lot of the sloppiness, slang and derogatory slurs you'll find elsewhere in this shitshow. Let's jumble on to the next whopper - wah hey

#1: Profiles: Mike Judge and the Philosophies of Self, Enlightenment and Work - 07 Sep 2009

This post has actual footnotes and citations! Wow! I actually put a lot of research into this one and I think it shows. Often my "research" involves memory, guesses and a 20-second Wikipedia check, but I actually opened a few books for this one and it shows. Despite Mike Judge's inability to find a satisfying ending to any live action film he's ever directed, attaching foreign Philosophic Ideas to his work really lives in that perfect zone of overthinking Pop Culture that we here at Norwegian Morning Wood simply adore.

Well, that was probably enough self-congratulating for one day. It's been a pretty fun year. As part of my International Mission, that's one down, 99 to go! Blogging Century Club baby!