1. Dork Trek

On a recent episode of the Dork Trek podcast Lt. Cmdr Bob Fresh said they just reached their 20,000th download, this actually made me extremely happy to hear, because for a long while I was convinced this podcast was made just for me, as if someone reached in my head and came up with my perfect idea of entertainment, that some of the guys behind the Bob's Boneyard Podcast and Mike and Bob Show would do an entire podcast just talking about Star Trek: The Next Generation, it was reassuring to hear that they had more than just myself as a listener. However, when I say this show was made for me I'm not exaggerating, in the episode "Secret Gay" the guys spend 5 minutes doing Juvenile-voice, somebody maybe only 7 people still remember, and most of those people also don't like TNG, they constantly bring up many of my other favorite shows, like The Simpsons, Seinfeld (seemingly every episode) Futurama, etc. The basic idea of the show is simple, they watch and review each episode of TNG, talking about the story of the episode while adding commentary as they do, and at the end rating each episode on a scale from 1 to 10. While its fun listening to them talk about the high ranked episodes like "Q Who?" or "Measure of a Man", its every bit of fun listening to them talk about episodes they either didn't like or were indifferent towards, their review of "Skin of Evil" entitled "Dead Dead Dead" featured the dudes doing 15 minutes of batman-voice and talking about what a horrible doctor Dr. Crusher is. Even though I consider myself a fan of TNG, they point out things that I never noticed like The Real Picard Maneuver, Step  1 Turn Around, Step 2 Surrender, Step 3 Blow Up The Ship!! They also pointed out what a terrible doctor Crusher was, and an even worse mother, and how much better Dr. Pulaski was, all things before this Podcast I never noticed.

The crew is made up of Lt. Cmdr Bob Fresh, Lt. Cmdr Dennis Black and Asian, Lt. Cmdr Tug Johnson, Lt Cmdr Zell, and Lt. Cmdr Ben McCormick, with the occasional guest, each member adds there own spin on things, Dennis basically serves as moderator, while Ben, seemingly an expert in all things Trek, serves as the Trek expert, leaving Zell, Bob, and Tug to add commentary, everyone on the show has their own tastes, and opinions about what makes a good episode, and they are all hilarious when it comes to poking fun at TNG and the entire Star Trek Universe. This Podcast is for everyone from the casual Star Trek fan to the diehard, and is literally unlike anything else out there, Star Trek podcasts take themselves way to seriously, and the motto of the crew of Dork Trek is "Actually, We Do Have Lives". For me this is really the best, greatest, and funniest thing to come out this year, someone recently said to me when I was quoting an episode of Dork Trek (again) "I think you're starting to like Dork Trek more than you like Star Trek" and I think they are right!!

2. The Game "Purp & Patron"

Click Here to Download "Purp & Patron"

Listening to The Game's mixtape "Purp & Patron" for the first time was like gaining your vision back after years of not being able to see. That may sound like a bit of an overstatement but considering my fondness for Hip-Hop, and the lack of Real Hip-Hop in recent years I would say its very accurate. Hip-Hop is at a weird place currently, a lot of rappers have become jacks of all trades, master of none, Lil Wayne for example is doing love song ballads, rock tracks, and Hip-Hop songs, and he's not the only one. Then "Purp & Patron" came out in January, it sounded like the Hip-Hop I grew up loving, while at the same time having a very modern sound to it as well. It was Hip-Hop at its purest and best, and far and away the best Hip-Hop album or mixtape I've heard in many years. Lyrically Game is unmatched on this mixtape, funny, clever, honest and finds Game telling stories versus just rhyming clever things, the production is ridiculous, featuring production from Phraell, Dre, T-Pain, Cool & Dre, 1500 or Nothin' to name a few. The 2 disc mixtape is loaded with nothing but great songs, ranging from fun tracks like "Soo Woo", or inspirational like "I'm The King", to Lakers themed tracks like the Wiz Khalifa inspired, rock infused "Purp & Yellow" to an Inspirational track like "The Kill". Game is channelling 2Pac, Dre, and Snoop at their very best on this mixtape, and I would dare say this mixtape is every bit as good as 2Pac's masterpiece "All Eyez on Me" and on the same level as Dre's "The Chronic" something before this year I never thought I would say.

A week later Game would come out with "Purp & Patron: The Hangover" which was every bit as good as the mixtape that came out the week before, it featured the songs and I quote "Not good enough for the Purp & Patron mixtape" one song off of the Hangover is the  Requiem For a Dream of music called "Lost" really good, but really sad, and as great as it may be I never want to hear it again. In early August Game came out with "HoodMorning" which was just as good as his two previous mixtapes, and just 3 weeks later he release his much talked about, much hyped "R.E.D. Album" which more than lived up to the expectations set for it. There is no question to me that Game is far and away THE RAPPER OF THE YEAR, his 4 mixtapes/albums are better than anything else anyone else came out with all year, I actually considered separating all four, but that would make this list slightly redundant. "Purp & Patron" reopened my eyes to just how great Hip-Hop could be, and set the bar high for the rest of the year in January, a bar no other rapper was able to get over. Game is not only the best rapper of the year, but "Purp & Patron" is the best mixtape or album released all year.

3. Episode 62 of Bob's Boneyard

Click Here to Listen to Episode 62 of Bob's Boneyard

The guys at Bob's Boneyard produce one of the best podcast out there, twice a week since April each episode has been hilarious pretty much from start to finish, and not to take anything away from the other episodes, but episode 62 may go down as the greatest single episode of any podcast EVER!! In April The Mike and Bob Show, a show that ran for almost 10 years in Hampton Roads, Virginia was canceled without warning, pretty much everyone woke up one day and it was gone. The Mike and Bob Show was unlike anything else that came before it (or since on traditional radio) it wasn't a drive-time zoo, it wasn't four idiots talking about Top 40 hits, playing the big songs of the day, it was personality driven radio at its very best. When the show was canceled it had a lot of its fans puzzled, the reason it was canceled as it turns out was due to a new ratings system combined with another format change on their home station 96x, once the home for alternative rock, now a station that plays Top 40 Pop. The cancelation led however to the Bob's Boneyard Podcast, which is only a more evolved, funnier, more profane version of the show that came before it. The Mike and Bob Show ran for almost 10 years and received no formal farewell, the show getting canceled sucked, no farewell was an injustice. On Episode 62 fans finally got their wish as Bob's Boneyard celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the Mike and Bob Show, while also having a reunion featuring members of The Mike and Bob Show from years past, and a few famous callers. The show felt like The Mike and Bob Show never left, it was a look back at 10 years that changed the way people thought about talk radio, giving each member of the show their moment, telling funny stories about the people that couldn't be there, and sharing personal favorite and least favorite moments of the run of the show, it was a perfect recap of a show that was so important to so many people, closing an important chapter while leaving the door open for more stuff to come in the future. There was a moment at the end were Bob Fresh and Mike Powers signed off using their trademark "Goodnight and Rock n' Roll" that chocked many people up and brought a tear to many an eye, for 10 years the Dudes left us with that same exit, and it was great they got to say at least one more time.

4. "Goodbye, Michael"

When the 7th Season of The Office started everyone knew Steve Carell was leaving the series to pursue other opportunities, so it was coming as no real surprise when an arc started towards the end of the season that would leave to Carell's character Michael Scott having to leave the office he loved so much. What was a surprise however was the final episode that featured Michael Scott, it was funny there was no doubt about it, but it was also surprisingly very touching, and not in the usual everyone cries sort of way, in fact the most touching moment for me and several people was when Michael Scott said his trademark phrase for the last time "That's what she said" only this time it was off mic and almost inaudible. It was great to see him tie up the relationships with everyone in the office, and the moment with him and Jim in his office and Pam at the airport where full of emotion, but emotion done right, not overly-sappy.

5. ESPN's 30 For 30 "The Fab Five"

Click Here to Watch "The Fab Five"

There is a generation of men my age who were influenced consciously or subconsciously by the Fab 5 of the Michigan Wolverines, when these five guys came together to play and lead the Wolverines to back to back Final Four Appearances they were the definition of cool, and subconsciously I have to this day still done things these guys did almost 20 years ago, the baggie shorts (something they made extremely popular) the black socks, the shaved heads, these guys took all those things none of which were popular at the time and made them the coolest things on the planet, I actually forgot about all of those things and why I did them until I saw the 30 For 30 Film on the Fab Five. "The Fab Five" cataloged the story of how all these guys came together to form one 

of the best teams ever assembled in College Basketball History, that would change the tide for collegiate sports forever, the documentary was honest, almost to a fault, and caused a ton of controversy when Jalen Rose (now an ESPN analyst) called Duke a school for sell-outs and accused Grant Hill of being an Uncle Tom, it was raw, unflinching, and impossible not to watch, just like the Fab Five themselves.

6. Game 6 of the World Series

Click Here for a look back at Game 6

Game 6 of the 2011 World Series will no doubt go down as one of the greatest baseball games ever played, if not the greatest. The Rangers (who lost the 2010 World Series as well) were just one strike away from winning the World Series in 6 Games when the Cardinals mounted an amazing comeback to send the game into extra innings, in the Top of the 10th the Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton hit a 2-run homer, making it look like a World Series win was again in the grasp of the Rangers, down to the final strike of their season for the second time that night the Cards would again come back on a Lance Berkman single to send the game to the 11th inning, and the Cards would win the game on a David Freese walkoff homerun. The game was made even more significant the next night when the Cardinals would win Game 7 to win the World Series.

7. The Kobe 6's

The Kobe 6's were the best pair of shoes to come out this year, for starters, the "Black Mamba" themed bumps and scales on the shoe, not only make the shoe look awesome, but prevent scuffs, making it almost impossible for someone to scuff your sneaker, because of the flywire technology, it is one of the lightest basketball sneakers ever made, the inserts mold perfectly to your feet which is great for working out in, plus they just look really dope. 

8. Captain America : The First Avenger

With all due respect to Dark Knight, or Iron Man, for me Captain America is the best Comic Book movie I've ever seen. After watching this movie I actually started reading comic books, I re-watched all of the Marvel Saga movies, I did research to find out about The Avengers, after seeing all of the comic book movies, and I like a lot of them (3 are on this list) Captain America is the one that hooked me, I loved so much about it, Captain America for me has one of the best origin stories, its set during a great time period, I've always loved the 40's era, its set against the backdrop of World War II, every performance is superb, it has a great story, good action, its a lot of fun, and oh yeah, it gave everyone their first look at The Avengers.

9. Watch the Throne

Click Here for the Otis Video

I was very curious about how I would feel about Watch the Throne, Kanye is one of my favorite musicians Ever, but I've always found Jay-Z extremely lackluster, so it was with great trepidation that I first listened to Watch the Throne, and I was massively surprised, instead of Jay infecting Kanye's style (which a lot of people assumed would happen) it was Jay-Z almost doing a Kanye impression on this album, being more honest and venerable, at its best I thought Watch the Throne would be good in spite of Jay and was pleasantly surprised that Jay-Z delivered the best performance of his careen on this album. And the songs are just really dope, "Murder to Excellence" for me is the best song of the entire year, "Ni**as in Paris" is a supremely fun and catchy song, as is "That's my Bitch" and "Otis", Watch the Throne is fun, flashy, empowering, inspirational, and very entertaining.

10. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Click Here for a Look at It's Always Sunny

To be fair, before this year I'd never seen any of It's Always Sunny, I always heard what a great show it was, and how it fit my sense of humor perfectly, yada, yada, yada, but it wasn't until I watched an episode that I finally Got It. The sense of humor of the show is unlike anything else, people have compared it to Seinfeld, but this show takes itself less seriously, and has less heart than even Seinfeld, the rule of Seinfeld set by Larry David was "No hugging, no Learning" on It's Always Sunny they have taken that concept and blown it out of proportion. The show is hilarious, and easy to watch, I watched all 7 seasons in a matter of weeks, the most recent Season 7 was full of great episodes, with Frank getting married to an unpretty woman-style hooker, The Gang going to the Jersey Shore, The Gang fighting hipster culture and social media and Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games. In 2011 It's Always Sunny went from a show I'd never seen to one of my favorite shows on TV.

11. Lupe Fiasco's "Lasers"

Click Here for the "The Show Goes On" video

Lupe has been a conscience MC since his first album "Food & Liquor" but on "Lasers" Lupe finds himself at his most clever, a song like "All Black Everything" is so unbelievably beautiful (which is weird to say about a Hip-Hop track) it is creative, inventive, and thought provoking, mush can be said about the entire album, other standout tracks are "State Run Radio" about the state of Top 40 Radio or "Words I Never Said" which could be almost an anthem for this generation. 

12. X-Men First Class

Was X-Men First Class a prequel, was it a reboot, honestly I don't think it matters how it fits in with the other movies. I'm not a giant comic book reader, I loved the X-Men cartoon as a kid, and enjoyed the first two X-Men movies, but this is a story I never knew, and it was brilliantly told, and explained the backstories of the characters very well.

13. NBA All-Star Weekend 2011

Click Here to View the Highlights of The All-Star Game

I've always made the claim that the MLB has the best of all the All-Star Games, however, with this year's edition of the NBA All-Star Game, I may have changed my opinion, the first night was the celebrity game, in which little Justin Beiber of all people put on a show, the following night Blake Griffin was a human highlight reel during the slam dunk contest, at one point even dunking over a car, then there was the main event, the All-Star Game itself, in which Kevin Durant and Lebron James played spectacular ball, Rhianna, Drake, and Kanye West performed at halftime, a performance which made a mockery of the Black Eyed Peas performance just 2 weeks earlier at the Super Bowl by comparison, and another amazing performance by the All-Star MVP Kobe Bryant

14. 30 Rock

Click Here for a Preview of Queen of Jordan

The 5th Season of 30 Rock was brilliant from start to finish, from Matt Damon's guest spot as Carol, Liz Lemon's boyfriend, to Kelsey Grammer helping Jenna and Kenneth run a scheme on a bakery, to the Live Show, or the 100th Episode, everything in the 5th season was hilarious and amazing. So much so, that to include all of the highlights would make for an egregiously long article. Simply put, Season 5 featured 2 fake shows, better than most of what's on TV right now, "Let's Stay Together" and "Queen of Jordan"...Its my way till Payday

15. Game 2 of the NBA Finals

Click Here for the Game 2 Mini-Movie

The Dallas Mavericks may have won the NBA Finals in Game 6, but a lot of experts and myself, feel like the Finals was actually won in Game 2. The Miami Heat won Game 1 rather easily, and had a 15 point lead with just 7 minutes to go in Game 2, it looked like Miami was just 2 games away from becoming NBA Champs, then something happened, it was soon after DeWayne Wade shot and made a 3-pointer, and struck a pose, for the first time in the series Dallas woke up, the Mavericks would go on an amazing run to close the game, eventually winning on a Dirk lay-up with just seconds remaining. The Heat would win Game 3, but the Mavs would win Games 4, 5, and 6, winning the NBA Finals. It was the miraculous comeback that changed the course of the entire series, and essentially won it for the Dallas Mavericks.

16. ESPN's 30 For 30 "Catching Hell"

CLick Here to preview ESPN's Catching Hell

October 14, 2003 is a day that will live in sports infamy. The lovable loser Cubbies were just 5 outs away from going to there first World Series since 1945, until Steve Bartman, a fan watching the game on the 3rd Base side, grabbed a ball that was in play in the reach of Left Fielder Moises Alou, what followed was a complete collapse, the Cubs would implode, giving up a 3-0 run by giving up 8 runs in the 8th inning, losing Game 6, and losing Game 7 the following night. Steve Bartman would become one of the most memorable scapegoats in Sports History, and this ESPN 30 For 30 Special perfectly captures every detail and nuance of that fateful night in October, that will not soon be forgotten.

17. The Reformat of ESPN's First Take

Click Here to see Skip Bayless at his best.

The thing everyone watched ESPN's First Take for wasn't sport's highlights, we have Sports Center for that, it wasn't the commentary from former players and coaches, you can find them on any talk radio or cable show, it was for Skip Bayless, in late August, early September, the folks at ESPN finally got the memo, and gave the public what they wanted...more Skip Bayless, instead of a meager 30 to 40 min during the course of a 2 hour show, ESPN's First Take might as well be called the Skip Bayless show, Bayless is involved in all of the show's segments now, which has turned the show from "I'll watch if a Skip Bayless segment is on" to "Time to watch First Take".

18. "Headlines"

Click Here For the Video

The thing about Drake's sophomore album is, well, it was pretty much garbage, a collection of bad R&B love songs, and Lil Wayne style-flows, however, on "Headlines" Drake captured something I haven't heard from him since his "So Far Gone" mixtape, the word "Swagga" is way to overused, but for the first time since the So Far Gone mixtape, Drake seemed to have a Swagga about him on this track, that combined with his brutal self-analyses, which is also something I loved about the So Far Gone mixtape, made this one of the best songs of the year for me. 

19. Thor

Of all the super heroes in the current Marvel Movie Saga, the one I knew the least about was Thor, before seeing this movie I honestly knew nothing about Thor, other than he was a God. The movie was supremely ambitious and epic, I would say that so far Thor's origin story was the hardest story to tell in terms or translating from the comic to the screen and it was done very well, I walked in to the theater with no knowledge of Thor and left with a lot.

20. Jack Sparrow

Click Here to see the Video for Jack Sparrow

I love this song, and the video, from Lonely Island's second album "Turtleneck and Chain". This song pretty much personifies why I like Lonely Island so much, at first it sounds like any other "In the club" hip-hop track currently on Top 40 radio, then the chorus comes in and its Michael Bolton singing about Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Welcome Back

Welcome back to The Real Ed Davis, and his wonderful 300 Thoughts and Running Blog. First things first, were have I been, well, I went on vacation in October, I had Nick Bryan fill in, and put his slant on my blog, and then I just got distracted by the gym once I came back from vacation, in the time between post I have gone from 200 pounds to 150, something I'm excited about. But I'm back!!

One thing is I'm completely changing how I do this blog, from now on, I'm going to be more honest, which is supposed to be the point of the whole blogging thing anyways, I had a crazy dream when I started doing my blog originally, and that was for someone to see my writing, and give this Journalism major a job doing what I love to do most, and thats write and comment on various pop culture happenings, as a result, my writing tended to be long-winded, ironically enough, when I first started my blog, one of the things people said they loved was how succinct my post were. So I'm done with the whole crazy dream thing, or posting on a schedule (which means no more Throwback Thursday) this isn't my job, this is something I do for fun, and from now on I'm going to treat it as such. Thank you for all of those who have visited my little corner of the Internet however.

Secondly, the biggest reason I have picked up my blogspot account again is because its almost the end of the year, and you know what that means...list!!! I fucking love list, give me a Top 10 or Top 20 of almost anything and I will read it and more times than not argue with it, and say its wrong for one reason or another. With that in mind, I give you my Top 20 List of things that came out of Pop Culture in the Year 2011, I did a Top 10 List on Facebook last year and actually had a lot of fun with it, the cool thing to me about doing a Pop Culture list versus a Top 20 albums or movies or whatever is it gives me a chance to rank all avenues of entertainment at one time, so up next is my Top 20 List for the Year 2011, I hope you enjoy, and if you find fault, feel free to message me and let me know what you think.

After a few months away, it's good to be back.

--The Real Ed Davis