Since Brian and Review the World were my main inspirations in starting my own blog, I figured it would be fitting to begin by introducing some of my favorite episodes from the past year. According to Brian, 2013 was one of the busiest years he’s ever had on the site, and it shows. He had a ton of great content.
Sort of an extended special segment of the 2013 Halloween episode, Brian and Tim decide to talk about their own experiences with the paranormal. Basically this was how my cousins and I spent many a late night when I was younger, and I’m sure by the end of this you’ll be talking to your screen wanting to add your two cents. Who knows? Maybe some of mine will get featured on this blog one day.
In the spring of 2013 I discovered Brian Hammons’ blog Review the World, and something inside clicked. Here was a guy — just slightly my junior — getting out and enjoying life with his friends, exploring his local environment, and generally on fire with all the possibilities that an ordinary life offers to those who know how to look for them. I had spent the bulk of 2012 doing all of those things with my two older kids while my wife was, for the most part (and regrettably), stuck at home working and/or gestating. It was a magic year open to all sorts of new experiences. That all ended, or seemed to, with the arrival of the new baby and all of the familiar responsibilities that went along with being a third-time father. Brian’s videos, especially the GO! Road Trip series, seemed to crystalize that sense of adventure and exploration I was missing at that moment, and which I sorely missed enjoying with the kids, at least as frequently as we had grown accustomed to over the preceding year. I contacted Brian to tell him how much I liked his videos, and to encourage him to make more. And now, almost a year later, he is encouraging me to join him in this little online party.
Challenge accepted.
My intent for this site is somewhat different than Brian’s for Review the World; that being said, I refuse to allow myself to constrain its potentialities. The site will grow organically, entertaining this or that whim or obsession, observing the seasons and responding to events. But a few core ideas will no doubt shape and permeate its essence for its natural life span, and those do not bear mentioning now, as they will become obvious soon enough.
I got to know Brian in 2013 after becoming a fan of his blog, reviewtheworld.com. Toward the end of that year I sent him the first of what I would come to call “care packs” for the show — just donated items for potential review on the site. That particular pack was a huge sampler of Zapps potato chips, a Louisiana snack of which I am quite fond. It took about six months for him to feature the first video. He was running the show twice a month back in those days, and I recall he had his schedule planned out months in advance. He was quite organized that way. That impressed me about him — the professionalism he showed toward the blog.
I thought he and the boys did a quite a nice job on this three-part review, setting a strong pace for 2014.
My first shout-out on Review the World was in this little vignette, now a classic in the RtW cinematic universe, in which “Toby” is the name of Chris’s ex-girlfriend.
