What is Shaking Through? Good question. It might be easier to start with a note about what Shaking Through is not: We are not slavish devotees of every aspect of pop culture; we won’t dispense PR hand-jobs to every Julia Roberts movie or the Red Hot Chili Peppers CD. We don’t think Zach Braff is the most important thing to happen to pop music since Col. Parker met Elvis. Nor are we a self-important bastion of “independent” culture; if we like, say, a Bruce Willis movie or a mainstream pop album or an unapologetic superhero comic book, we’ll say so, without fear of seeming less than cool.

Like most folks out there, we are infinite, we contain multitudes. And so we’ll weigh in on pop culture in its myriad forms — movies, music, books, comics, even the occasional look at television or sports or celebrity underwear malfunctions or what have you — always with an eye toward shaking the giant tree of popular culture, if you will, sifting the truth from the hyperbole, the good from the not-so-good, etc. We’ll ask questions — What does this album say about Pearl Jam’s attitudes toward its success? Or that book about the cultural impact of Saturday Night Live? We’ll carp about the manufactured scandal of the moment, make fun of people who sorely deserve it, and raise our voice when we think the emperor has no clothes.

But while we may get serious occasionally, we won’t take ourselves too seriously, like some self-appointed arbiters of what’s hip, what’s now, what’s important. Like the sign says, we’re just here to provide humorous and insightful commentary regarding matters of pop-cultural relevance. And if you like what you read, keep coming back. Tell your friends and, most importantly, let us know what you think. Because while this may look like an exercise in self-indulgence, it wouldn’t exist without you.

Happy shaking,

Kevin Forest Moreau, Chief Cook and Bottle-Washer