Q: What do Kit Kats, David Hasselhoff, Disney comic books, Spam, 7-Eleven, Garfield, and Pabst Blue Ribbon have in common?

A: According to an old Cracked.com article, they're all US pop culture items that have huge followings overseas.

So, I will admit that Kit Kat's are one of my favorite candy bars. I always buy them at Halloween so that I get the leftovers. I frequently steal them from my daughter, too.

As for Garfield, I've read 90% of the Garfield literature out there (I owned up to Book #14 - Garfield Swallows his Pride - as a kid) and have created a new rabid fan in my son who never leaves the library without a Garfield book under his arm and regularly demands the Comics page from the newspaper so that he can read about the latest shenanigans of Garfield, Odie, Jon, Lyman, Nermal, Liz, Roz, and the rest of the gang.

 

I've also read a good number of Donald Duck comics. My favorites were Land Beneath the Ground, which took place in an underground kingdom where creatures called Terries and Fermies created earthquakes and The Golden Fleecing, an entertaining spin on the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts. I still count myself as a big Scrooge McDuck fan, too. I always wished that I had that much money, not so that I could buy a bunch of stuff and be powerful but so that I could literally swim in it. But probably my favorite characters from the old Disney comic books are the Beagle Boys. Why Disney hasn't already capitalized on these hidden gems with movies, TV shows, diapers, etc. is beyond me. Maybe it's because they're hardened criminals. (Or maybe they have and I am just out of the loop).


Further, I don't hassle the Hoff despite his post-Knight Rider career plunge. Bay Watch never piqued my interest and I never did get why his music is so successful (even though I'm half German). His America's Got Talent judging stint and, especially, his drunk Wendy's hamburger-eating viral video definitely brought him back up a few points on my scale, though. Odd side note: A good friend and musician formed an experimental band several years back called the David Hasselhoff 5. Not a tribute band per se but you can definitely tell that the Hoff was an influence (the man, not his music). Search it on Google and you may just find that there are still some vinyl copies out there for purchase.



Pabst Blue Ribbon? The All-American PBR? Yes, definitely my favorite non-craft domestic brew (i.e., piss water) and the coolest name and logo out there.

 

And, yes, I frequented the local 7-Eleven in my youth although the Circle K was closer and had better video games (wish I'd kept track of the number of quarters I pumped into Super Mario Bros.).

Spam? I just don't get Spam.

So, I guess you can say that I, too, have more than a passing interest in each of these topics like our foreign friends from afar. Why am I dedicating a Blog post to these seemingly random topics? Call it an experiment. I'll let you know how it went in a month or two.