Culture Dumps

This special episode covers a wide array of the worst and best moments in the history of award shows. Ryan sits down with Adam Papagan to discuss their ill-fated live event “The Award Awards” and the moments they feel are the absolute best award shows have to offer. 

Thomas Kinkade, aka the “Painter of Light” was the most successful commercial artist of his time. At the peak of his popularity it was estimated that one in 20 American homes owned a Kinkade print or product. His whimsical portraits of cottages, lighthouses, Christmas imagery, and overall kitschy shit raked in millions upon millions of dollars, but, underneath the veil of wholesomeness, existed some very non-whimsical demons… Ryan is joined by friend Kailyn Sciberras.

Bo Derek’s appearance in the 1979 film “10” made her an instant star. Running down the beach in a bikini with her hair in braids, the scene was parodied many times and turn Derek in an 80s sex symbol. Her screen time in the movie is relatively short, yet the resulting celebrity status was huge. She starred in a series of 80s movies, directed by her then husband John Derek. These movies contain a combination of terrible acting and a lot of nudity. She has won multiple Golden Raspberry awards for worst acting. The peak of this Bo Derek mania is the 1984 movie “Bolero,” a truly bizarre piece of cinematography.

This is a double header episode. We bring back our friend Adam Papagan to discuss his career as a tour guide and founder of Cool LA Tours and we also seize the opportunity to test his vast knowledge of the most publicized trial of all time, the OJ Simpson Trial. Ryan and Adam take you step by step through the OJ case in true dumps style.

The term “frivolous lawsuit” gets thrown around quite a bit, however, the number one go-to example of a frivolous lawsuit was not frivolous at all. In 1992 a 79-year-old woman spilt some of her McDonald’s coffee onto her lap causing third degree burns of six percent of her body. The media completely flubbed the story and painted the woman as a shady grifter who was attempting to scam the Golden Arches out of millions of dollars. We crack open this case file to prove that, yes, the coffee was too damn hot!

Heroin Chic is the term used for the rise of nihilistic, drug influenced pop culture in the early 1990’s. While most of the trend was gravely misunderstood, there were some long lasting negative effects that are worth reviewing in our special dump way. Music, film, and fashion are all involved. PLUS we will hear first hand from our return guest Dinah Rankin (aka @beautifulsupermodelgenius) about the realities of modeling and the indie sleaze movement that is creeping its way back into the mainstream.

The yellow silicone bracelet. Worn by many to signify they cared enough to stand up against cancer. The real dump (and reason why you don’t see them anymore) is because their creator, Lance Armstrong. The 7 time champion of the Tour De France, Armstrong had all of his titles stripped in a huge scandal involving performance enhancing drugs. Also a medical procedure called Blood Doping. Metal AF

Valarie Jones is a legend in the world of true crime. In 1992 the notorious “True Crime Trading Cards” were released to the public and a wave of backlash followed closely behind. Valerie found themselves at the center of a media firestorm, being blamed for the decline of society and was deemed responsible for perpetuating the celebrity profiles that notorious murderers often acquire. Never to be one to listen to the mainstream they kept at it, creating another important trading card set the “AIDS Awareness Trading Cards.” The career of Valerie Jones is as eclectic as it is interesting and Ryan sits down with them to hear the whole story.

Tiny Tim was a true American folk hero. His distinct falsetto and ukulele playing found him the unlikely celebrity in the late 1960s. He was both a singer and a musical archivist; forever in love with the music from the 1930’s and before. Tiny Tim was often misunderstood; his love for the past could easily manifest into unintentional comedy for TV audiences. While some saw took his androgynous appearance as signs of queer empowerment, in reality he was a staunch catholic whose views on marriage were about as dated as the music he loved so dearly. The Dumpy Boys go digging and find as sorts of strange happenings in the world of Tiny Tim

Smoking cigarettes is bad for you… unless you make it look as good as Joe Camel did! In the early 90s, images of this anthropomorphic bad boy, leather jacket, cig smoking camel were everywhere. Donning a range of costumes, from James Bond-esque tuxedo to recently divorced dad on a motorcycle, this ad campaign was a huge success. Funny thing is, kids love cartoons. Studies showed that the Joe Camel ads created a strong brand recognition with cigs and the cartoon in children. Was Big Tobacco trying to get kids to smoke? If you had to guess, it seems pretty obvious.