Alright, let me try this as a Daniel Stern voiceover: “It was the fall of 2011. I was a fresh-faced college graduate living in my parents’ basement. My girlfriend had moved back to college, and I was stuck listening to Adele and Katy Perry fifty times a day on the radio like every other kid…
Seven books. Seven horcruxes. Seven Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. It’s an important and recurring theme in the series. I was tempted to rank the series #7 on my Top 100 Everything for that reason alone. (Plus, you know I love the number seven.) In that spirit, here is my Harry Potter story in…
It’s basically impossible to succinctly describe Bruce Springsteen artistic output. He is large, he contains multitudes. The Boss has released 18 studio albums over the past 45 years and developed a reputation for unsurpassed, marathon live performances. His commitment to heartland rock is easy to parody; it’s also key to his expansive creative achievement. Springsteen…
When I think of Mass Effect, I think of synthesis… And not just because of that word’s prominent role in the series conclusion. There are so many layers to a video game, especially a story-based RPG, that it’s reductive to say “this game works because of X.” And I’ve certainly been guilty of this. When…
“Television: Teacher, mother, secret lover!” – Homer Simpson, “Treehouse of Horror V” There are about fifteen reasons it feels impossible for me to write about The Simpsons in any objective, cohesive manner. It’s the greatest TV show of all time, and also the most formative on my life outlook. It’s responsible for some of my…
Streetlight Manifesto is quite possibly my favorite band of all time. And they’re probably be my favorite musical artist — band or solo — of the past twenty five years. They’re responsible for my favorite concert ever and three of my favorite albums ever. I love love love them. And so I decided to…
I like Pixar movies. Shocking, right? Pixar falls in the same category as John Green, elevating to a higher plane a genre that I adore but that is often dismissed as immature fun (animated films and YA lit, respectively). Simply, if you’re interested in well-told, mature, compelling stories and you’re interested in animation, then Pixar…
I wish that everyone can be blessed with a band like Relient K in their lives: A band that so closely matches your personality and growth that listening to them sometimes feels like looking into a mirror; a band that feels like it was designed specifically for “you”; a band that you love as much…
Whenever someone asks me what my favorite movie is, I get a little bit embarrassed. “It’s called That Thing You Do! It’s a comedy from 1996,” I say. “Oh. So it’s really funny?” “Yes. Well… I mean… I personally think so. It’s not really a punchline type comedy.” “So it’s more, like, surreal? Physical comedy,…
Wow. It’s hard to believe that the end is in sight. When I launched “Dan’s Top 100 Everything” back in January, I had a vision of something I could whip up in a couple months, with most articles serving as brief summaries. I even stated that I hoped to publish one article in the series…