Author: Matt Drufke

Matt Drufke is an self-described expert on pop culture, and will come to your parties if you have a dope cheese tray.
Pop Culture

The Best Television Episodes Of 2019

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The Best Television Episodes Of 2019

As the decade nears it end, it is quite possible that we have seen the best ten year stretch of small screen content that the medium has ever produced. And 2019 has been a perfect encapsulation of that.

This has been a year where we’ve said goodbye to old friends, assuming your friends were dragons, hackers, and nerds of both network and cable variety. We’ve also said hello to vigilantes, fairies, and more nerds.

Good shows became great and great show became, somehow, even greater. There is so much good programming, it’s difficult to believe that anyone would want to leave their house.

And then there’s Lil’ Yoda.

I’ve watched more television than I’m comfortable admitting. I feel like at any moment, the multitude of subscription services I use will send people to my door to ask if I have some sort of problem.

Here is the best and brightest that television gave us this last year.

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Pop Culture, Uncategorized

The (Cultural) Tribe Has Spoken

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The (Cultural) Tribe Has Spoken

I think most people watch most television (and, by this, I mean entertainment television- basically everything that isn’t the news) for two reasons: to escape the world and to experience the world. Some people are sick and tired of seeing the world devour itself and need a break, so they turn on their small screen in the hopes of being drifted away, if only for a short time, from the problems of the modern world. Others, however, look at television as a reflection of society, and look to it to show us who we are and see what that tells us about ourselves.

In speaking about television as terms of contrast and reflection, Survivor had almost always landed in the former category. However, this season, the show has taken a sharp turn into the latter, and in doing so, has become one of the most interesting shows on television this year.

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Music/Movies, Pop Culture

You’re So Perfect, You’re Not Here…

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You’re So Perfect, You’re Not Here…

I am a believer of the populus.

If America believes that Sean Spicer is one of the best celebrity dancers in the country, so be it. If our nation comes together and is okay with Jerry Bruckheimer movies, who am I to argue. If more people voted for Donald Trump to be the leader of the free world… all right, bad example.

Because I live in this mindset, I thought I would be able to live with the results of a Twitter poll I put up a few days ago based on a debate we were having in the Fancy Boys Club facebook chat. What started as a polite chat between Brandon and his wife led to a full-fledged argument. Lines were drawn; other lines were crossed. 

When the smoke had cleared, 33 people had voted for what the best song from Eve 6 was. The overwhelming majority of people had voted for “Inside Out”, while my choice, “Open Road Song”, finished in last place with a paltry nine percent.

The people failed me. The people are wrong.

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Misc., Pop Culture, Sports

I Was Saying “Boo-Urns”

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I Was Saying “Boo-Urns”

On October 27th, during the fifth World Series game between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals, the Jumbotron in National Park showed a shot of President Donald Trump, his wife, and a group of GOP lawmakers who were attending the game. If you follow sports, or politics, or know anyone who does, you probably know what happened next: Nationals fans booed the president, also throwing in a cheer of, “Lock him up!” for good measure. Reading about it the next day, my reaction was a bemused chuckle. 

But it didn’t end there.

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Music/Movies

You’ve Got My Letter, I’ve Got Your Songs

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Last weekend, my wife and I met friends for a night of tapas. On the way home, with our bellies full of Spanish meats and cheeses, we turned on the radio and heard “The End Of The Game,” the newest single from Weezer. That a band who has been making music for 25 years can get a new single on the radio was, at the very least, surprising. The fact that the song sounds exactly like Weezer was, well, not surprising.

But as I heard the newest song from a band who has made 14 albums (their newest album, Van Weezer, will be the third album in two years), I couldn’t help but think about their second album. In the course of the song’s three minutes and twenty-one seconds, I didn’t even hear the new song anymore. Every chord and lyric I heard made me think of an album which came out over two decades ago. For days, one major question just kept popping into my brain like one of River Cuomo’s sing-along melodies:

Did Pinkerton break Weezer?

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Music/Movies, Pop Culture

Five Songs For Your Halloween Mix

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Five Songs For Your Halloween Mix

If you’re like me, you make mixes. I love putting together a series of songs for a person or for an event or even just for myself. I need just the flimsiest of reasons to open up my itunes, fire up the cd burner, and look for a group of songs.

However, it’s Halloween… A GREAT TIME TO MAKE A MIX!

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Pop Culture

Impeachment In The Time Of Mitch McConnell

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Impeachment In The Time Of Mitch McConnell

Let’s take a look at the political climate today. 

A new Fox News poll released yesterday had 51 percent of registered voters saying that President Donald Trump should be both impeached and removed from office. A Politico article suggests that, as of the beginning of last month, Democrats had the votes to begin an impeachment inquiry. The president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is appearing on Laura Ingraham’s show almost every night, presumably because he is trying to make sure he seems like the most unhinged person on Fox News every day of the goddamned week. And, as I’m writing this, two associates of Giuliani have just been arrested on campaign finance charges.

It has not been a good few weeks for the Trump White House. Though, to be fair, it’s unsure if they’ve ever been able to string a few good weeks together.

However, if you are a fan of this President and his administration, fear not. Things may look bleak and things may look rough, but Donald Trump isn’t going anywhere. He’s going to stay right where he is until the next election, of which his odds of winning are, AT WORST, 50-50.

And, if President Trump can somehow get re-elected next year, he will have one man to thank: Mitch McConnell.

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Music/Movies, Pop Culture

Nothing Lasts Forever (not even my knowledge of Die Hard)

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Nothing Lasts Forever (not even my knowledge of Die Hard)

We all need surprising moments in our life. Little things that happen that take us by surprise and make us look at ourselves, and the world, from a different angle. Sometimes those are big events, and sometimes they’re little things. But they’re always powerful and need to be respected and observed.

For me, one of those moments was when I realized that “Die Hard” was based on a book.

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Music/Movies

The Most Anticipated Films Left In 2019…

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The Most Anticipated Films Left In 2019…

With fall in full swing, we’re headed into the last quarter of this year… and this decade. This is the last chance for studios to get their films out to have them get Oscar consideration and to make the lists of all the critics whom they undoubtedly hate. What are the films I’m most looking forward to? Let’s count them down:

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