Recently in Pop Culture Category

Pam and I finished watching season 4 of "Dexter." The first season, with the Ice Truck Killer, was the best. But I'd rank season 4 as the second-best, thanks to the work of John Lithgow as the guest serial killer. Fairly early in the season, Dexter learns that the Lithgow character is the Trinity Killer they are looking for, and he strikes up a friendship with him. It develops in fascinating ways, starting with demented admiration and quickly deteriorating.

I consider Dexter a guilty pleasure. I don't like seeing movies with central characters who use drugs...yet I'm okay with the hero being a serial killer? I guess I justify it by the fact that the Dexter books are published under my beloved Black Lizard imprint, and that Dexter comes under the general category of roman noir, an umbrella which takes in Jim Thompson and other great pulp writers.

Speaking of the books.....

I just finished the fourth Dexter book, "Dexter by Design," by Jeff Lindsey. At this point, it's definite: the TV show and books have gone their separate ways. The first book was spread over the whole first season, scripted closely. But now, everything's different. The books and TV series bear little resemblance.

For instance, Sergeant Doakes died in season 2 of the TV show, but he lives on in the books, although with some appendages missing. Dexter is married to Rita in the books, but Rita's 2 children are, like Dexter, "damaged" and in need of the same direction he received from his father to channel his killer impulses. That's a start to the differences.

I'll also say this: the TV show is much, MUCH better. The first book was great, the second one very good, the third one terrible, the fourth one a bit less than okay. In "Dexter by Design," very little seemed to happen. There was way too much of Dexter, the narrator, reflecting on his Dark Passenger. It just got old. I'll keep reading the books, but only because of the black lizard on the spine.

ESPN has a ranking of the 25 Best Sports Movies. Two different lists, actually. There are movies on those lists that I haven't seen, and I'm sure I would love them if I saw them (like "Eight Men Out" and "North Dallas 40"). But of the sports movies I HAVE seen, here are my favorite 25. I'm not talking about "critically acclaimed" movies, like "Raging Bull," only about my personal favorites.

1. Field of Dreams
2. Brian's Song
3. Chariots of Fire
4. Rocky
5. Hoosiers
6. Tin Cup
   
7. Jerry McGuire
8. Remember the Titans
9. Rudy
10. The Color of Money (Sorry, I've never seen "The Hustler")
11. Bloodsport (come on, ESPN, admit you liked it!)
12. A League of Their Own
13. The Rookie
14. Million Dollar Baby
15. Heaven Can Wait
16. For Love of the Game
    
17. White Men Can't Jump
    
18. Bull Durham
    
19. Major League
    
20. The Blind Side
21. Caddyshack.
    
22. Rollerball
23. Friday Night Lights
    
24. Kickboxer (another guilty pleasure)
    
25. Cool Runnings

Kevin Costner starred in four of those movies. He's definitely the Sports Movie MVP.

Last night, while Pam and I were eating at MacAlister's Deli, I heard the song, "Billy Don't be a Hero." It took me back to 1974 when this anti-war song hit Number 1. It was originally recorded by Paper Lace, where it topped the charts in England. But before Paper Lace could release it in the States, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods covered it, and their version is what I remember. (The Paper Lace version stalled at 96 in the US.)

The song appeared during the latter years of the Vietnam War, when we were getting out. The mood in America was, "Let's cut our losses. It's not worth losing our sons in that no-account country." Kind of like people are now thinking about Afghanistan.

The song ends on a note of despair. Billy's fiance had been telling him, "Don't be a hero. Keep your head down. Come back to me." But in the midst of combat, he volunteers for a risky mission, and dies. The song ends:

I heard his fiancee got a letter
That told how Billy died that day.
The letter said that he was a hero.
She should be proud he died that way.
I heard she threw the letter away.

I was a junior in high school at the time. I loved that song; it told a good story and I could understand all the lyrics. (The same guy wrote "The Night Chicago Died," another great story-song, and one which did become a US hit for Paper Lace). I can still remember all the lyrics. When I heard the song playing last night, it all came back to me. I was mentally singing along with it.

The song was probably written with the Civil War in mind. That's how Paper Lace portrayed it on their album cover. Twice it refers to the men as "soldier blues," and one line says, "I need a volunteer to ride up and bring us back some extra men." Like, ride up in a Jeep? More likely ride up on a horse.

Yet, the song is anonymous enough to apply to any war. Especially unpopular wars. In "Star Trek: the Next Generation," Tasha Y'ar's death is described as an "empty" death, a death without real purpose, no heroics, no lasting meaning. That is how people had begun viewing Vietnam--an empty war, undeserving of American blood. Billy's fiance seemingly viewed his death as empty (though I'm sure Billy, and his fellow soldiers, didn't).

Are people beginning to view Afghanistan that way? Just another hopeless cause, like Vietnam? 

I've been musing about that song's reappearance. Pop music often reflects what's happening in society. Is "Billy, Don't be a Hero" being revived, because that's how people feel about our two wars? We've been lauding our fallen as heroes, and they are. But will people begin telling their children and spouses and siblings, "Don't be a hero. It's not worth dying over there."

Give it a couple more years, with weekly American deaths in Afghanistan and no progress worth mentioning. Then some opportunistic group could re-record "Billy Don't be a Hero," and they may just have a huge hit.

I've been amused by Lindsay Lohan's recent antics, supposedly losing her passport and all. She's obviously got a good lawyer who is scrambling to keep her out of jail.Her name is Shawn Chapman Holley.

But on the other side is Judge Marsha Revel, an unsympathetic cynic of all things Lindsay. Actually, I think she's been giving in too much. But it's been amusing reading some of the exchanges between the judge and the lawyer.

This week, Holley asked the judge to let Lohan forgo wearing an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet, because Lohan had to go to Texas to reshoot some scenes for an upcoming movie. So the judge checked with 20th Century Fox, the film studio. No reshoots were scheduled. The movie was well into post-production. Busted!

But this one really made me laugh.

Last week, Lohan missed a court-ordered alcohol counseling class. Holley said Lohan missed it because her uncle died.

"Did she go to the funeral?" Judge Revel asked.

"She did not," Holley answered.

I love it.

Belinda Luscome wrote this tremendous (and very funny) column in the May 3 edition of Time magazine, called "Should Larry King's Marriage License be Revoked?"

The occasion is the breakup of Larry King's eight marriage; she calls him the "octospouse." She refers to other serial spouses, like Liz Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Mickey Rooney. And then she wonders why we allow this.

"In no other area of life can grown people flame out so often and so badly and still get official permission to go ahead and do the same thing again. If your driving is hazardous to those around you, your license is suspended. Fail too many courses at college, and you'll get kicked out. You can lose your medical or law license for a single infraction. ...So why do people who are committed vows abusers keep getting handed marriage licenses at city hall? If batters and violent offenders get only three strikes, why should bad spouses get more?"

The article is quite funny, especially toward the end when she gives some great tongue-in-cheek solutions. But amidst the levity is a lot of truth.

I don't have a lot of opinions about the Oscar results, but I was definitely interested in the competition between Avatar and The Hurt Locker, which are the only two contending films I saw.

Some people may draw comparisons to the year when Shakespeare in Love beat out Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture. I never saw Shakespeare in Love, and it seems to have been forgotten, but Saving Private Ryan will always remain as one of the best war movies ever.

The Hurt Locker was a small movie, compared to Avatar. But I'm totally okay with it winning Best Picture. It was a truly memorable movie.

A number of scenes from The Hurt Locker are etched in my memory:

• The creepy Iraqi with the videocamera filming while they were trying to defuse a car bomb.
• The sniper scene out in the desert.
• The attempt to defuse the bomb padlocked around a guy.
• Jeremy Renner's character standing in a street and pulling up a whole circle of bombs, with a creepy (I've used that word again) man of uncertain motives watching through a window and finally slinking away.

I tell people I felt dusty after watching the movie. I've not been to Iraq, but I felt like I was there.

(Speaking of creepy: what's with that Hurt Locker producer jerking Kathryn Bigelow around by her arm? A ground-breaking moment for women, in that a woman wins Best Director, but you see this guy directing her around like she's a child.)

Then there's the Avatar juggernaut, biggest blockbuster in history. It didn't affect me emotionally like The Hurt Locker, but the innovation was, ahem, out of this world. I'm sure it broke new ground in movie-making. I can't come within lightyears of comprehending James Cameron's vision and thought processes for that movie. Avatar was truly a masterwork of directing.

So here's what I would like to have seen:

• Give Best Picture to The Hurt Locker.
• Give Best Director to James Cameron.

Compliments of roflrazzi.com

I was at Cunningham Optical this afternoon getting a new lens (just the right eye--again). As I waited, I noticed how many customers were wearing bluejeans. Every single person who passed by me was wearing bluejeans. It's something I had mused over previously.

Pam and I returned to Blockbuster for the first time since 2002. That's how long we've been doing Netflix. We needed to rent a Playstation game for Cameron, my nephew. Can't get those with Netflix.

Cameron: I stood in line for 30 minutes! Just to rent a game. Do you appreciate your uncle, or what?

The experience reaffirmed my membership in--and now, I realize, unbridled devotion to--Netflix. For less than $20 a month, we get 3 videos at a time, with a two-day turnaround, which means we could probably watch 30 videos a month, if we really tried. Plus, we can stream scores of other videos directly to our TV or computer.

The experience today reminded me of the insanity that is Blockbuster:

• Drive to the store, several miles away.
• Search for a parking spot in the terribly inadequate lot.
• Browse the shelves, trying to decide what to rent.
• The number of videos available is a tiny fraction of what you can get on Netflix.
• You end up selecting something that's available, whether or not it's what you really wanted.
• Stand in line for eons.
• High rental cost.
• Drive back to the store to return the videos within 5 days.
• Late fees (no late fees with Netflix).

Considering the convenience of Netflix, how does Blockbuster even stay in business?

We obnoxious Apple fanatics love to gloat. And so, I offer you the Adweek "picks of the decade."

• Top Brand: Apple.
• Top product: iPod
• Ad Campaign of the Decade: Get a Mac.
• Top Marketer: Steve jobs.

Of those wonderful "Get a Mac" ads, Adweek writes:

Apple always diverged from the 'speeds and feeds' ads associated with the computer category, but the brand really defined itself with the 2006 launch of TBWA\Media Arts Lab's 'Get a Mac' campaign. That series of 60-plus ads brought some humanity into the equation by turning the machines into live-action cartoons. In so doing, the comic spots offer transparent understanding of the aspirations of its audience and how people identify--and connect emotionally--with technology.

The genius is in the casting. The Mac guy, Justin Long, is a younger version of Steve Jobs who is casual and comfortable in his skin. PC, personified by John Hodgman, as a rounder, paler Bill Gates, is a well-meaning geek with all kinds of operating problems. For Apple, the campaign managed the neat trick of making the brand look laid back and cool while it mercilessly skewered its rival.

Google was named Technology Company of the Decade, and Youtube was named Best Website. Missing in action is Microsoft.