By: Tyler Anton

POP-CULTURE AND I

GYMKHANAGymkhana is a motorsport where drivers are made to maneuver through complex obstacles such as 180 and 360 degree turns, figure 8’s, and reversals. I was first introduced to Gymkhana, like millions of others, through Ken Block’s Gymkhana video. Ever since I have found an interest in performance automobiles and cars in general.

To get a better idea of what Gymkhana is all about watch the original Ken Block video here.

WIZ KHALIFAI remember first hearing some of Wiz Khalifas music around sophomore year in high school and thinking that he was going to be big. His music seemed to be played everywhere and nearly all of my friends were influenced by his work as well.

Here is a link to on of his best mixtapes in my opinion

THE LEGEND OF ZELDAOne of my favorite videogames of all time. I spent countless hours with Link (the games protagonist) adventuring through the virtual world. Games like this made me think of videogames more as an art form than the frivolities that most people take them for.

LED ZEPPELINOne of the most popular rock bands of all time, Led Zeppelin influenced my taste in music heavily by giving me an appreciation for traditional rock bands. Because of them I learned to play the guitar and they opened up a whole new genre of music for me.

HARRY POTTER AKA the series that launched my obsession with reading. I am not quite sure when exactly I started the series but I do know that once I did I never stopped, eagerly waiting for the next book to come out every year or so, re-reading the previous books multiple times to occupy myself in the meantime. Without this phenomenal series I may have never went on to read and enjoy the many different books that I did.

Fun fact: I read the 6th book (607 pages) in two days flat.

THE LORD OF THE RINGSThe LOTR movies are definitely my favorite movies of all time and I don’t believe that is going to change any time soon. Having seen the movies and read the books the movies without a doubt had a greater influence on me (however the books are amazing as well) and they really gave me a love for film and cinematography.

STARCRAFTAnother video game that was an influence throughout my childhood, StarCraft is a real-time strategy game set in an alternate futuristic galaxy. One aspect that makes the game unique and appeals to me is the enormous competitive scene that sprang up around the game.

A StarCraft tournament in South Korea

FOOTBALLI played this sport for eight years of my life and I definitely consider my experiences playing as an integral part of my life. Although I had a love-hate relationship with the sport towards the end of my football career I stuck it out through high school and I believe that I took away a few valuable lessons as a result.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDSClassified as a “Multiplayer Online Battle Arena” game, LoL now has over 32 million monthly active players. Almost three times more than World of Warcrafts peak 12 million subscribers. League of legends has become one of my favorite games and it looks to stay that way for some time.

THE INTERNETIt has always fascinated me that billions of people can be connected through computers. I vividly remember playing my first computer games on an ancient MS-DOS machine and I always thought that computers and the internet worked through some kind of magic.

A visualization of the internet.