I was having a discussion over lunch with one of my good nerd-hip friends and I had to gasp (and gasp aloud) when I discovered that he had not seen a single episode of Dexter!  I had to take his nerd card and cut a corner off of it and immediately banished him to his room to watch Dexter.  It was then that I realized that there may be some Robot Panic followers who have also never seen this show.  To this I must ask, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE??? 

Ok, I’m sorry. I know that a lot of us don’t get Showtime and that used to be a valid excuse not to watch great television, but since every one of these seasons are available to rent on DVD and Bluray; OR you can watch streaming from Netflix, there simply isn’t an excuse anymore.  So if you are one of those people who haven’t experienced Dexter and all its awesomeness, quickly read this article, stop whatever you were doing (important or not) and start watching this show.  Like NOW people, I mean it!   

Okay, so aside from being one of the most cleverly written dramas I have ever seen, Dexter centers on a blood spatter analyst named Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) who just happens to moonlight as a serial killer. (Let that absurdity sink in for just a minute and then read on). But Dexter isn’t just an ordinary serial killer, he has a personal code. For you see, Dexter only kills other killers. This unique aspect to a troubled character makes him extremely likeable and yet considerably confusing. We cheer for Dexter as he wipes out yet another bad guy, but we wonder all along if he’ll ever lose it completely and become one of them.  It’s this internal struggle that Dexter has and how he adeptly tries to blend in with ordinary people who can’t possibly understand him, that makes this show so incredibly addicting. 

The first season of Dexter aired in 2006 and was loosely based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsey. Later, the series would allow the character and the story to evolve and were written by James Manos Jr., the writer for the pilot episode. I will admit that the first few episodes of Dexter can be kind of hard to watch. The show starts off very bloody and this can be quite shocking to your casual viewer. But then again, Dexter is supposed to be shocking, it is what makes the show so great. My wife is a good example of a casual Dexter viewer. On one hand I can often hear her cry, “Oh my lord that is terrible,” only to ask me later if Dexter was okay at  the end of the show.

There are tropes and stereotypes that television series have long honored, and Dexter seems to break each and every one of them. For example, Dexter has a girlfriend named Rita. But does he have this relationship to appear normal or does he really care for her?  We then begin to question all of Dexter’s relationships, are they real or are they a facade? And when the facade becomes real, well that’s when things get really confusing for Dexter. For he is a man completely out of touch with the concept of genuine feelings. These and many questions like it pop up in every episode, and that is great television!

Finally, Dexter is addicting and suspenseful.  Like all serial killers, Dexter makes mistakes now and then. He inadvertently leaves clues about who he really is, and we watch in suspense as Dexter gets oh-so-close to being found out. I think life is like that for many of us, the thrill of getting caught doing something we know is wrong  and yet we do it anyway.      

I could say a whole lot more, but I’d rather have you experience Dexter for yourself. Seasons 1 and 2 are available right now on Netflix instant streaming. If you are like me, you’ll get hooked right away and watch the entire season in a couple of sittings. The story for season one can stand on its own, but the underlying stories that develop from that point forward are just too good to deprive yourself from, and SHOCKtober is the perfect time of year to get acquainted with the likes of Dexter Morgan.

iPhone 3GS: I know, I know. The obvious choice for the Apple Fanboy in the audience but bear with me. I never bought a 3G back when Steve and Co. debuted the new “faster internet” version of the iPhone. My old 2G hooked into the web just fine, ran Apps decently and did everything I wanted it too. Or so I thought. With this little beauty, not only do I have a much needed compass to help me find my own house when I’m lost, it allows me to stream podcasts and music on the fly and take videos of my kids before they turn into teenagers tomorrow. Hell, I can even mistakenly send that picture of me with no pants to my loan officer instead of just texting him insults to his mother. Technology is, truly, grand. What was already a device that had my very life housed inside it has somehow become an even more important and valuable piece of equipment. I’m never without it.

Vintage 1952 Telecaster Reissue: Like every red-blooded American boy, I’ve always wanted to be a guitar player. Aided by the impending Classic Rock inspired Shmopera 3.0, I decided it was time to stop fucking around and do it. I’ve had my eye on this guitar since I first saw Springsteen playing on an actual 1952 Telecaster as a kid and when it came time to buy my first serious guitar, there could be no other. It may be a reissue but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t rock the shit out of everything you play. It’s a dream and plays like a classic American guitar should: loud and sexy. Add in a new VOX tube amp and I’m in rock and roll heaven. Tom Petty cover band, here I come. If I wasn’t married, I would sleep with this thing. I’m in love.

Up!: I’ve heard tell of animated movies that made crowds weep with emotion. I’ve never had an animated movie move me that way, until Pete Doctor’s Up!, that is. In the course of about three minutes, the story of a man and his wife goes by and ends with the main character sitting alone and holding a balloon after the funeral of his wife. An animated movie had me crying in the theater. Call me a baby, call me a wimp. I call Pete Doctor and the artists at Pixar some of the best storytellers and craftsmen that have ever lived. Thank God they exist.

Twitter: Hilden from 2008 wants to punch the Hilden of 2009 right in his pussy fucking face with this pick. It’s true, however, that Twitter has become one of the most important communication tools for Drunken Gamers Radio and it’s community of kick ass listeners. Not to mention, it’s a great way to keep in touch with what’s going on in world of entertainment, politics, comedy, music, comics and anything else I have an interest in. It’s everything I love about forums but without all the shit I hate. It’s what I wanted Facebook to be before a shit ton of people I didn’t even talk to in High School made the social network the equivalent of a yearbook popularity contest. Twitter is how I like to keep in touch with people. Short and to the point communications with a link to more shit if you want it. Twitter, I hate to say it, is the missing piece to the DGR/Robot Panic puzzle that started with a forum burned to the ground by a merciless robot. I love to Tweet. There. I said it. Fuck you.

LOST: For a show that really started to flounder around Season 3, this show really found it’s stride and once again sits as one of the best shows on television. In it’s 2009 Season, the element of time travel was used, not as a groan-inducing “we don’t know where to go from here” cop-out but as a brilliantly executed tool that was integral to a compelling and pivotal story arc. With only one season to go, LOST has taken it’s place as one of the most engaging stories I have witnessed on television and in 2009, it consistently delivered on it’s promise. My only regret is that it’s only got one more season before it’s over.

The Beatles Re-Masters: I’ve always been a Beatles fan but I’ve never seriously delved into their music. I’m not sure if it just wasn’t the right time in my life or what, but I’ve always had a passing fancy with the group. When the Re-Masters hit this year, the aspiring audio engineer in me decided to pick them up just to learn something about the mastering process. What ended up happening is a multiple month long voyage of musical discovery regarding song writing and construction. Those lessons ended up infusing most of my contributions to the ZomBOOsical! and gave me a whole new insight into what makes a great band great. My only regret is that it took me this long to really understand what the Beatles were all about. The new versions of these classic albums not only sound fantastic but they also restored my love of the physical medium of the CD for my music purchases. While I still download many songs digitally, if it’s anything of worth, I’m back to buying it on CD thanks to these albums.

The Protomen: Act II-The Father of Death: We’re obviously big fans of the rock “opera” thing here at Robot Panic. As such, The Protomen’s latest offering is one of my favorite albums of the year. Yes, it tells a great little story that is set in the world of one of my favorite videogames. However, it’s the songs themselves that set this album apart. They all have great hooks, some fantastic 80′s synth action and they’re catchy as hell. It’s a really well produced album and from a musical perspective, it sets the bar high for other folks hoping to do much the same. Um..yeah…that would be us.

Dexter: I’m a bit late to the party on this one, but I have to mention that Dexter goes down as one of the most cleverly crafted shows to appear on television. It got my wife and I to plunk down another $10.00 a month we don’t have just to see them all in time. I was in love with Season 3, even though many didn’t like it as much. I, however, thought it would be pretty hard to top. With Season 4′s scary, disturbing, brilliant and completely shocking story now over, I have NO idea where things go from here but I’ve never been more anxious to see a season of television start.

And that season finale ending scene will haunt me for months. I’m fucking serious.

All of You: Excuse the bit of cheese that’s about to be written here. I have to say that one of my favorite things of 2009 was all of you who read, listen and contribute to our little home on the web. I’m not gonna lie. A little over a year ago, I was done with websites, forums and podcasts. For reasons of my own addled brain, I was fighting hard to kill everything and shut it all down. Thanks to my good friends talking me down off the ledge, we managed to find what was missing and move things in a more positive direction for the three of us.

In turn, all of you who have been with us since the beginning of Team Fremont (or even GWX) and those of you only a week old have written in, called, submitted articles, left iTunes reviews and (most shockingly) donated your hard earned money to our show. There are simply no words to express how grateful I am for all of you and your contributions. I only hope that our show and site continue to entertain you or at least make you laugh once before you unsubscribe in disgust.

Thank you for making 2009 the best year we’ve ever had.

I have a very large love for animation. At one point in my life animation was the dream that I planned on pursuing as a career. Somewhere along the way I guess the idea of talking shit about videogames into a microphone sounded like a better idea, and plans changed. But that hasn’t stopped me from staying involved and interested in what the field of animation, along with film and television, has to offer. One of the most amazing things about the medium is how diverse it is. There are times where animation is so expertly wedded into the flow of narrative and/or presentation, that you just sort of forget that it’s there. In the process of absorbing it, it’s easy to simply take in what it means rather than how it’s done.

Television main titles are a great case it point. All of my favorite shows have these opening scenes that blow my mind when I take the time to really watch them. The sad fact, however, is that it’s rare when I do pay attention to these works of art. I’m more interested in the show that follows the titles and in this DVR generation of technology, I find myself fast forwarding through them. Despite my lack of patience when it comes to finding out just who Dexter kills this week, the fact remains that there are some brilliant works of art at the front end of my favorite television series. Six Feet Under is another show who’s opening titles both disturbed and fascinated me. House, Dexter, Rescue Me just to name a few others.

All of these fantastic opening segments I found, after some digging, turned out to be done by the same fantastic design house. That studio is called Digital Kitchen and they’re not just dedicated to creating the intros to my favorite series. They’ve also done plenty of short films and wonderful, eye-catching commercial advertisements. Their website has this to say on their Main Title work:

DK is the most Emmy-nominated firm in the category. We seek assignments that tell a separate, parallel story. These are little art films really, that find their own voice, all while arming audiences with each show’s unique psychology and worldview.

You can find an excellent portfolio of their work here as well as a specific page dedicated to the Main Title sequences that Digital Kitchen has done here.