Best Of 2015: Jeffery X Martin

By Jeffery X Martin

When you compare and contrast 2015 with other years, it really wasn’t half bad. It was a great year for movies, an absolutely stellar year for music, and television reached new heights of creativity and watchability. Sure, there were some celebrity deaths that shook me to the core (these are still hard times, Dream), but there wasn’t a whole lot to complain about in 2015, except how difficult it was to choose the best things of it.

So let’s start with the movies, shall we? In ascending order, please, Maestro. (more…)

Today in Pop Culture: One Man, One Bike, One Dream

By Jeffery X Martin

As the New Year begins, let us speak of fallen heroes, those who dared to dream big and fail miserably. These are men among men, the ones who dare to straddle that line between heroism and stupidity, and we remember their successes as well as their failures.

Friends, I bring before you a man named Evel.

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Today in Pop Culture: Lots Of Stuff!

By Jeffery X Martin

It’s the end of the year and as we look back through pop culture history, this is a big day! Lots of things happened, and it’s hard to pick just one. Therefore, I’m not going to. Why do hard things? Ugh. So here’s a quick list of interesting things that happened on December 31st!

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Today in Pop Culture: Paul, Frank, Elvis, And Sid

By Jeffery X Martin

It is 1968, and at the end of the year, in the twilight of his singing career, Frank Sinatra steps into a recording studio and sings the song that would become his trademark, “My Way.”

The song was based on a French tune called “Comme d’habitude.” Songwriter Paul Anka, known mostly for being interchangeable with other songwriter Neil Sedaka, bought the rights to the song for a measly dollar, thinking he could take the tune and make something better out of it.

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Today in Pop Culture: From Murder to Broadway

By Jeffery X Martin

His name was Thomas Becket, and he was a well-respected man about town, as they say. Quick-witted, an eloquent speaker, Becket fell under the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket was sent to law school in France and, when he returned, he was made the Archdeacon of Canterbury.

There are lots of Arches in this story. Do try to keep up.

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Today in Pop Culture: Let’s All Go to the Movies

By Jeffery X Martin

The year is 1895. At the Grand Cafe in Paris, France, two brothers are showing off their latest invention. It’s a strange-looking contraption–boxes and a crank all precariously perched atop a wooden tripod. The brothers, Lumière by name, call their odd machine a cinematograph. It is a combination camera, printer, and film projector. And at the Grand Cafe, the crowds have come with money in hand to see moving pictures of the city they live in, the City of Lights.

It is December 28 and, on this day in pop culture history, the ritual of going to the movies was born.

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Today In Pop Culture: A Brief History Of Spoilers

By Jeffery X Martin

It is 1980, the morning of May 21. School is almost over for the year. I feel the first erratic twitches of puberty grunting through my adrenal glands. More important than any of that, though, more important than girls or grades or how to get better with either of them, is the fact that May 21 is the official release date of The Empire Strikes Back.

And I am ready.

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Today In Pop Culture: When Gerry Met Squeaky

By Jeffery X Martin

It’s September 5, 1975, and President Gerald R. Ford is visiting California. Appointed rather than elected, Ford has not been the greatest President. He’s already been repeatedly made fun of by Chevy Chase on SNL for being clumsy. He is also dealing with the public relations nightmare that occurred when he pardoned former President Richard Nixon for his part in the Watergate burglary and other crimes. He is seen as a stooge, a puppet, a leader who would rather play golf than deal with the issues.

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Today In Pop Culture: The Battle Of… Danzig?

By Jeffery X Martin

The year is 1577. All throughout a dirty black summer, the soldiers loyal to Stephen Báthory, the Polish-Lithuanian, laid siege to the city. The inhabitants of the city didn’t recognize Báthory’s authority and had resolved to let themselves die if they couldn’t keep possession of their home.

These sworn enemies of the Báthory kingdom were known as Danzigers, and they all lived in the city of Danzig.

That’s right. Today marks the end of the Siege of Danzig.

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Today In Pop Culture: The Premiere Of Gone With The Wind

By Jeffery X Martin

It’s December 15, 1939, and Atlanta is all abuzz. The film, Gone with the Wind, is set to premiere at the Loew’s Grand Theater. Dig this, kids: 300,000 people made a line seven miles long, just to watch the limousines carrying the stars of the film from the airport to the theater. That is possibly the most boring parade imaginable. Oh, look. A car. Oh, look. Another car.

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