Seattle’s Best: Paul Secrest (No Relation To The Other Guy)
October 28, 2009 by Editor-in-Chief
Filed under Feature Story Writer, feature overlay
Poptimal.com’s sole Featured Writer west of the Mississippi, Paul Secrest is a born and raised Californian living in Seattle. He discovered Poptimal.com during his post-college job hunt and has been happy to have a regular outlet for his pop cultural rantings.
Paul dreams of becoming a modern day Don Draper with his freshly minted marketing degree, but the economy currently finds him living a more Chuck Bartowski-esque lifestyle, although sadly lacking the spy stuff.
He loves trivia in any form, exploiting several bar quiz nights per week for supplemental income and dreams of dethroning the Jeopardy! records of personal idol Ken Jennings (whom Paul has met).
Paul loves few things more than a night out at the movies, the older the theater the better. He thinks 3D is here to stay, believes Pixar to be a profound force for good in the world, and wishes somebody would man up and finance the rest of the timeless Narnia saga into movie form, if for no other reason than to keep hearing Eddie Izzard tear it up as the voice of Reepicheep.
While movies are definitely a big deal for Paul, TV is often a bit stronger obsession (6 hours on Thursday alone, he’s ashamed to admit). In the hours not consumed by DVR backlog, Paul also loves Rock Band, books, hiking, mountain biking, and discovering all the quirky wonders Seattle has to offer.
His favorite movie genres: Epic blockbusters, smart comedies, and anything resembling the work of Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith.
His favorite TV genres: Serialized action/sci-fi drama, comedy, and competitive reality (but never Big Brother).
His current coverage: Fringe (more to come pending a few changes in the real world)
In his own words: — Paul’s thoughts on . . .
Having an infamous last name: I am assuredly in no way blood related to Ryan Seacrest (although I do work with Kenneth Briggs, notable crazy-eyed wannabe of 2007). Ryan doesn’t even spell his name right! That “A” is completely extraneous and has no bearing on the pronunciation. At least it’s better than 4th grade when Seaquest was popular. Try living that down on the playground.
A lack of respect for a certain Transformer: Where’s the love for Jetfire? The derelict geezer-bot who gave his life for Optimus was far and wide the best part of the erratic Revenge of the Fallen, yet he is almost nowhere to be seen in the inescapable abundance of toys and merchandise. I loved Jetfire enough to make him the namesake of my derelict Subaru but can’t find a proper $9.99 action figure anywhere? For shame.
The year it all went sideways: I always enjoyed two or three favorite shows per week growing up, but ever since the fall season of 2001 brought the simultaneous debuts of 24, Alias, and Smallville, TV has become an ever expanding black hole of quality programming that demands more and more of my time and devotion. At least I cut loose Grey’s Anatomy (I was just watching for the money shots of the Seattle skyline before I moved anyways) and the ever declining Heroes, but here come a new wave of faves like Modern Family, Community, Flash Forward, and probably V that’ll keep the addiction fresh.
My love/hate relationship with Mad Men: Sometimes I’m not sure if I actually enjoy Mad Men, or if I’m just along for the ride because the entertainment journalism machine tells me it’s so great. The acting is peerless, I’m dying to know what’ll become of Betty finding Don’s box of relics from his former life, and I can’t wait to see how the writers will deal with the JFK assassination, but sometimes I just wanna roll my eyes at the molasses-paced pretentiousness and switch to a rerun of The Soup.
Favorite movies ever: I love such a variety of everything that I’m horrible at picking favorites. Lord of the Rings, Men In Black, and a select variety of Star Wars and Matrix movies are totally untouchable, and I do have that Kevin Smith and QT obsession (especially Dogma and Pulp Fiction) but I have to give special props to The Princess Bride for being such a perfect mix of humor, romance, swashbuckling, whimsy, irony, nostalgia, and just about anything else you can want from a movie. Bonus? It’s family friendly and can be appreciated on different levels depending on your stage of life.
Favorite TV shows ever: These are a little easier to pinpoint, and I’ll stick to one comedy and one drama: Arrested Development and Lost. They share attributes like unforgettable characters, labyrinthine self referential plot structure, and a team of crazed geniuses in the writers’ room. I will both praise and mourn Lost’s upcoming final season, and I’ll be first in line at the midnight show whenever Ron Howard and Co. get the Arrested movie up and running.
You can Read Paul’s articles here.
Learn about our other writers, Jaimie Campos and Cameron Cubbison.
