My Amish Friend

Some times in life you meet the most fascinating people. I've had a friend for a little over a year now that I didn't realize outside of his quirky behavior simply had not experienced modern culture really in any form much less american media. He has had a sheltered life isolating him from most things that the average american 90's kid would know as generic trivia. So while he's book smart and dresses sharp in a classical sense if you ask him to do the macarena he'll look at you like you're talking jibberish.

I took it upon myself then to educate him on pretty much everything you won't find in a book and even some things that you might find in a book but lose a bit in translation of media. I gave this project of mine a name of "The US Department of Mandatory Media" in which the title accurately reflects the intent. My goal and design was to try and think of every possible thing I could that I think every person should experience in their lifetime as of today.

This meant showing him AC/DC, metallica, and various metal bands of all kinds, he was drawn more towards symphonic and melodic bands like Nightwish, and power metal like newer disturbed albums. He also took a strong liking to Dubstep and early Rap. I then started to catch him up on trends in pop culture through the years while also establishing a list of movies and tv shows and assortments of youtube videos. This content rather than overwhelming was like an addictive drug with an endless need for consumption. I've spent the last few weeks just showing him new material day in and day out and he can't seem to get enough. He managed to work his way through all of game of thrones in just under 2 days. He can't stop quoting the terminator movies and he's just soaking up all the content he can like an endless sponge. He finally realized this is a marathon not a sprint and went home today to prepare for next month.

I'm reaching out now to anyone who might have a suggestion of something they truly like and think its something everyone should experience at least once. I can be anything at all, you don't have to restrict yourself to music, movies, or tv, just share something that can be done almost anywhere by yourself or with a small group of people. If you're wondering what we've already made it through in that regard simply assume whatever you're going to suggest that we haven't as we've barely scratched the surface of everything he's missed out on in the last 20 years.