Perhaps it’s watching all that Hindsight, perhaps it is because I am spending time with family, either way, I’ve been living in the past a little these days. Part of it is because I find the direction the world is heading very off-putting in many ways. Sure, there are technological advances and great things are happening, but there are plenty of other aspects of life in which character traits I am not fond of are cherished and values I hold are cast aside. I’d like o believe things are different and this is the time life really is taking a turn for the completely different, but the truth of the matter is this: I’m just getting older.

As my friend Jeff will constantly tell me, there is little to gain living in the past. Embrace the future and what it holds. Thing is, so much of our cultural future are comprised of haphazard remakes of quality relics of our cultural past. The fourth-highest grossing film in history is a crappy “reimagination” of Jurassic Park that makes JP3 look like Shakespeare. The latest Terminator tries to become the best by actually rewriting history such that the others never happened. Yet, here people are clamoring for these titles instead of watching the classics. As much as old does not equal better, or so my friends lecture me, new does not mean good

So, as I have done in years past on this blog, it is time to embark on my latest mission to remind the world of the oldies but goodies. And because I can’t just recollect pop culture without some sort of personal reflection to go with it, I thought it was time to take score of my life with a movie, a song, and a show. Here is how things will work:

For each year starting with my birth year, I will highlight one movie released in that year, one song released as a single that year, and one television show that aired a full season during that year (doesn’t have to be new for TV, as there were far fewer new shows each year back in the 80s). These won’t necessarily be my favorites from when I was living each year, but each will be not just a piece of pop culture I enjoy, but one that has had an impact on me or illustrates a concept form my life that the modern world may not be able to understand.

So we’re taking a stroll down memory lane for the next month or so, hoping we might be able to take these lessons of the past and start re-evaluating how we approach the future.