"Impact Zone"
by DaMert Company, 1998
If you ever had any doubt of conspiracy theory/ufology's impact on popular culture, just look at the game "Impact Zone." This kid's game, which plays a lot like the classic "Battleship," has you race against your opponent to recover pieces of a crashed UFO in the middle of some American desert. Hmmmm....sounds very Roswell-esque. "Impact Zone" also comes with a sound effects box, so you know when you've stumbled over a UFO piece (good) or an abandoned mine, rattlesnake, or coyote (all bad). Since we are no longer fighting the Cold War, "Battleship" has lost a bit of its social/political resonance. "Impact Zone," armed with the current X-Files obsession of pop culture, has stepped in to fill the gap. Now "Impact Zone" isn't the sort of specialized game you would find in an underground bookstore or new age shop. The copy that the Bachelor Pad picked up was found in a mainstream mall toy store. The most interesting thing about "Impact Zone," beyond the whole UFO cover-up angle, is that this game is marketed primarily to children. I guess it's never too soon to let them in on the big secrets of government cover-ups. If you think about it, "Impact Zone" shouldn't really surprise anyone.  "Monopoly" teaches kids about the secrets of cut-throat corporatization.  "Life" shows you the wonder of middle-class conservatism. "Clue" teaches kids all about drawing room murders. And let us not forget about the much maligned "Ouija Board." All in all, there is a pretty ominous undercurrent is all the major board games of the last hundred years. "Impact Zone"," with its conspiracy agenda, fits right in. As a side note, the company that puts out "Impact Zone" have another game that might also be of interest to UFO fans. It's called "Alien Autopsy" which seems suspiciously like "Operation."
 
 
 

"Aku-Aku"
by Thor Heyerdahl, 1958
"Aku-Aku" was Thor Heyerdahl's big follow-up to "Kon-Tiki"--a book that helped cement the tiki culture in the minds of all bachelors in the western world. Instead of sailing the pacific on an ancient raft, Heyerdahl this time around uses a commercial steamer to travel with a crew of archeologists to mythical Easter Island. Not only do they take time to dig around the Moai's (the big heads) but they also nudge and coerce the natives into showing them how these statues were supposedly carved, moved, and erected. (Some later theorists argue that these statues were not put in place my human hands, but instead were the work of our UFO friends--but that's a story for another day.) Even though Western Civilization had changed the mind-set of the natives, they still, according to Heyerdahl, remain a very superstitious bunch. The book's title "Aku-Aku" refers to the spiritual guardian that people and families are said to possess. Even Heyerdahl himeslf gets into the "aku-aku" action. He plays off his "aku-aku" to cajole the islanders into showing him secret family caves and the ancient sculptures that lie in them. Some show him the real deal with others try to con Heyerdahl with fake caves and artifacts. In the end, Heyerdahl comes away with crates full of these authentic ancient scupltures and the fear and respect of the natives. The scientific theories that Heyerdahl concludes the book with are framed in a dialogue between him and his supposed "aku-aku." The real fun of "Aku-Aku" is that it is part travelogue, part adventure story, and part detective novel. It was written for the lay person who is not interested the cold, hard scientific facts. It captures the spirit of the exotic South Seas with a real sense of flair and bravado. (There are some great color photos in the book--some of which are included here.) It is because of books like this that Tiki Lounges (such as this one) exist at all.
 
 
 
 

"I Watched A Wild Hog Eat My Baby!"
by Bill Sloan, 2001
For their long history, tabloids have always been the whipping boy of the mainstream media. They have been shunned, laughed at, and look upon with disdain, but their effect on pop culture is undeniable. These ubiquitous elements of American supermarket checkouts have had more of a bumpy history than most would think. Tabloids started out of the late 19th century New York newspaper battles in an era when terms like "muckraking" and "yellow journalism" came into being. These competing newspapers were out to sell the most newspapers, and if playing loose and fast with the facts did this, then so be it. This lesson was not wasted on the later generation of tabloid publishers. "I Watched A Wild Hog Eat My Baby!" is a historical account of the rise and fall of the most notable (and infamous) of the tabloids printed in the last 60 years, focusing on the undisputed "King of the Tabloids" the National Enquirer. The book also tracks these papers from their early days of gore, violence, and sex, to their modern preoccupation with the tragedy and triumph of Hollywood's elite. Tabloids are one of the most important barometers of pop culture out there. Unless the screaming headlines tap into something that's currently on the minds of the American public, then it doesn't sell. And if it doesn't sell, you have to find a story that does. Tabloids market themselves on the old adage of giving the people what they want when they want it. It's this bread and circus approach that created a gulf between them and all other serious news outlets. But nowadays, the book argues, that line between what the tabloids cover and what the TV news magazines cover has started to blur. So tabloids might have won the battle, but they're on the verge of losing the war. If the tabloids are being out-tabloided by mainstream news outlets, then where do they have left to go?