Pieces of Pop: March
03-03-2006
by Aaron Dicer

Pieces of Pop

Bite sized morsels of a hard to swallow culture.

Stop, collaborate, and listen, Dice is back with a brand new edition. Sorry, high school flashback there, got a lot of "Vanilla Dice" shout outs walking the halls back in the day. Recently, it's been more "Ice, Ice, Baby" than I could care for around this part of the world. A nice 3 or 4 inches of ice storm knocked out the power for four days in some parts and gave me plenty of time to ponder the wondrous world of pop culture. So now, To the extreme, I'll rock this blog like a vandal, light up this page and wax a chump like a candle…. or something.

Oscar the Slouch - How outta touch is the academy? I mean, seriously, no hard feelings if you are a fan of any of the nominated films, but I'm guessing you haven't even seen any of them. I couldn't care less which wins and I'm not alone. CNN recently did a poll asking which of the five films people were rooting for. The winner? Option six "I don't care" at 40%. The highest grossing of the five sits at number 27 on the year. Here's a novel idea for the academy, nominate movies that people actually want to go see. Just a thought.

Simple Simon - Did you catch what American Idol contestant Mandisa said to Simon Cowell on the show where they cut it down to the final 24? Check it out, her words speak for themselves, "Well, you didn't need a bigger stage but you could have got a bigger chair. Simon, a lot of people want me to say a lot of things to you, but this is what I want to say to you. It's that yes, you hurt me, and I cried, and it was painful, it really was, but I want you to know that I've forgiven you, and that you don't need somebody to apologize in order to forgive somebody, and I figure that if Jesus could die so that all of my wrongs could be forgiven, I can certainly extend that same grace to you so I just wanted you to know." One of the most powerful moments of TV I've seen in a long time. Well done, Mandisa.

The Race is On - Amazing Race is back. That is all. You just needed to know.

Free Chips? - I recently stumbled upon a preview for "Nacho Libre", the next film from the Napoleon Dynamite crew. It's out in June and It looks to carry on the same humor and feel as Napoleon. My question, doesn't it seem like Napoleon Dynamite was a one time word of mouth tsunami? It's impossible to recreate that kind of cultural touchstone. Who am I kidding? If it has even half the quotable lines as Dynamite, I'll be there. And Jared Hess and Jack Black do seem like a match made in heaven.

It's Kind of a Big Deal - I can't explain it but "Deal or No Deal" has me absolutely hooked. It's such a simple concept but I find myself screaming at these people every night. I'm a grown man, I know they can't hear me, but maybe if enough of us yell at our TVs these people will begin to realize that $160,000 dollars is more than $5. I'm getting angry just thinking about it, we need to move on.

Chance Meeting - I'm dying for any and all feedback on Steve Taylor's new film, "The Second Chance". I live about 2 hours away from the closest theater playing the thing and it's driving me absolutely crazy. I've been a fan of Taylor all the way back to "Meltdown" and I'm dying to see if he's going to change film the way he did music back in the day. Holly's article here was great but I need another fix. If you have seen the movie, let me know if it's any good at dice@cmcentral.com. Maybe I'll compile your responses for a future PCC.

Knotts Landing - Don Knotts is gone, honestly that one gets me. I've only seen his stuff way after the fact, but I still felt this weird void when I heard. Even in reruns his genius is evident on Andy Griffith, and the show would have been nothing without him. (except maybe a footnote in the career of a future star director). Beyond that, I still get nostalgic about "The Apple Dumpling Gang" or "The Incredible Mr. Limpett". Dude was funny, plain and simple. Did you know that some of his last work was in Max Lucado's Christian kid's series, "Hermie and Friends"? In his eighties, and he was still making kids laugh, what a legacy.

(Aaron Dicer is Program Director and does the morning show at 101.7 "The Fuse", in Saginaw, Michigan. He has also spoken around the country at youth events and seminars on how a Christian can interact with culture in a positive way. Every other week he will offer a new review of a TV show, Movie, or other piece of pop culture. You can hear him at wprj.org, read more articles at hookedonsiphonics.com, or be his friend at myspace.com/aarondicer. Questions, comments, opinions, ideas? Email him at dice@cmcentral.com)