Austin, TEXAS, December 14, 2005 — John Lennon didn't feel alone, not even with his quixotic dream.

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

Yeah, right. Maybe he really meant it, because, after all, there are better rhymes than 'one' and 'one.' He could have said "And I feel so all alone, I hope some day you'll join me." He must have meant he and Yoko. He couldn't have imagined anyone else willing to give up making everything about countries and religion, could he? Well, it was 1971. Things were different then.

But this isn't about how my politics are so, so different than that of many of the people I know. (And, yes, I'm considering voting for Kinky for governor.)

No, this is much less substantial than politics. This is about culture. And popular culture at that.

Am I the only one who hasn't seen a Lord of the Rings movie? (No, didn't read the books either.) I read the papers, though. I watch the Academy Awards. So I know some trivia. Peter Jackson directed. He's from New Zealand. He directed the new King Kong, too. Which I plan to see.

Am I the only one who hasn't read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe? I probably won't see the movie either. But I know the trivia. C.S. Lewis wrote it. I know that. And I saw Shadowlands and remember Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger in that. Good movie, I thought.

Am I the only one who hasn't read The Da Vinci Code? I know who wrote it, that the Catholics (and other Christians?) were upset by it and that it is going to be or is being made into a movie. (Isn't everything?)

And then there is The Passion of The Christ. Mel Gibson. Millions of bucks. Lots of fake blood. Controversy. But me? No, I didn't see it.

Popular culture and I have an on again, off again relationship. I will watch movies just because Johnny Depp is in them or Jim Jarmusch directed. (Which makes me love Dead Man which almost nobody else has seen.) I have nothing against religious themes. I'm not drawn to fantasy, but I don't hate it. (I haven't read word one of J.K. Rowling but I've seen two of the movies and know what quiddich is.)

I'm sure everyone navigates popular culture in their own way. But sometimes I feel so all alone. And video games? I stopped at Pong. Never even graduated to Pac Man. But I did love Pinball! Give me a $5000 Fireball rather than an Xbox 360 any day.