Hangin' with Agent Cooper

No, I'm not talking about that show. Although now that I mention it, I do miss TGIF-style TV every once in a while... all that pure, simple, corny family fun. I don't watch TV nowadays but from what I gather it's a mostly glorified cesspool of horrible reality programming, punctuated by about 82 different versions of CSI.

Which is why I'm glad that I can look to the past for my entertainment indulgences, and much more. Have you heard about this thing called the past? It's amazing. A veritable goldmine of ideas and culture and great, great things... many of which have been forgotten, overlooked, or (worst of all) ripped off to such a nauseating degree that it's no longer recognizable in its current mainstream incarnation. So much of today's popular culture is mind-meltingly boring or even downright depressing. I find it a lot more satisfying to simply search backwards in time, instead of attempting to be up on all the hottest new things.

So! In light of the above-mentioned philosphy, I present my first foray into things unknown that were right under my nose the whole time: the genius and overall fucking fascinating series that is David Lynch's Twin Peaks.

Since discovering the show I've been watching it voraciously, at the rate of one or two episodes a night... which is sometimes hard, as I want to give it every iota of my attention, which means I have to get everything else on my plate done first. But damn, is it ever worth it.

I find it so regrettable that my previous knowledge of Kyle MacLachlan was mostly limited to his work in Showgirls, and Sex and The City. In his role as Special Agent Cooper he is a master of subtle humour, and understanding the intricacies that make all the difference between an idiosyncratic yet sympathetic human being, and a total oddball creep.

Do you like my shiny new dress, Kyle? It's Versayce.

And where has Sherilyn Fenn been all my life? She's the greatest. She smolders as Audrey, the estranged daughter of a megalomaniacal rich pervert. I want her and Agent Cooper to hook up something FIERCE. They're the Tim Canterbury and Dawn Tinsley of bizarro psychological thriller-land.

Audrey's the one on the right - just your average teenage girl.

Other awesome folks of note include but are not limited to: Ray Wise as Leland Palmer, whose madness is heartbreaking; Kimmy Robertson as Lucy the receptionist, one of those people who are so damned adorable that you want to smash their face, but you never would because they're too freaking adorable; and the always excellent Piper Laurie. Fun fact: Lara Flynn Boyle's actual human face also stars!

I'm currently just a couple of episodes into the second season - and shit is getting REAL! It's a testament to how much I genuinely enjoy this show, that I haven't spoiled the whole thing for myself by looking up every last detail about it on Wikipedia. In this day and age, there are hardly any surprises left... but if you try hard and practice a bit of restraint, you can truly enjoy things the way the past intended.

In the past, people didn't have those tape-dispensers that fit on the back of your hand. Havoc reigned.