Tuesday, July 17, 2007

You too could be King Dork

I have excellent taste. I enjoy inflicting my taste on other people. I listen to many types of music (yes, including country and occasionally rap). Those of you who have received mix CD's from me in the past can attest to that fact. I use a myriad of sources to find good music, but oftentimes it's just a friend telling me he likes something. I enjoy lending DVD's and books to people, because when I experience something of quality I want to share it with others. I would hope my friends would do the same for me.

OK, maybe my taste isn't all excellent, but it is at least slightly different that Joe Schmo. I listen to lots of different music. I read as much as I can. Though fatherhood has put a damper on movie and TV viewing, I still get to watch something now and then. I made a vow to myself some time ago that if I was going to spend money on beer, it was going to be good beer. Now that I don't have as much time for movie watching and book reading, I want to make sure I watch good movies and read good books. There's a lot of crap out there, and this blog exists to help us all sort through that crap in order to find the really worthwhile non-crap.

So I've enlisted a few like-minded friends, and together we're going to put up posts describing music, books, movies, TV shows and other things bearing artistic merit that we enjoy. If you would rather listen to Top 40 radio, read books by hack authors who poop out a book every three months, or watch by-the-numbers movies in which only good things happen to the good people and bad things happen to the bad people, this blog might not be the place for you. OK, maybe that's a little harsh. You can like those things as much as you want, but please consider expanding your horizons with us.

My first recommendation is a book: "King Dork" by Frank Portman. If you like music, read this book. If you like to use big words, read this book. If you have ever been called a nerd or a geek or a dork, read this book. This book inspired me to write my first fan letter ever. Though written for young adults (and I stress the "adults" part), I would not hesitate to recommend it to old adults. I'll undoubtedly encourage my own son to read it some day...when he's about 14.

This is already a super long post, so I won't get into too many more details. It should suffice to say that I initially thought of creating this blog precisely because I think everyone should read "King Dork." The cryptic title of this blog comes from the book, and the book pretty much encompasses what I want this blog to be: a place for the not-so-cool to school the supposedly-cool in what is really, actually very cool. Are we cool?

1 comment:

Bison whisperer said...

Psyched for a new read, many thanks for both the invite, and the reading suggestion. I'm currently in the Western portion of New York state, doing some painting, and getting an education in house building, and Hammond Organs.

Just a quick one for now, get your hands on some New Mastersounds (that's the band's name), if you don't have any already. They will blow your minds right out of your ear-pussies.

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