Tales of Blogging Passion, Part II.

By all means, please read and enjoy Tales of Blogging Passion, Part I here. This is a new ongoing series in which I’d like to focus on bloggers I read who are extraordinary to me in one way or the other.

As I pass in and out of the various blogging communities that I frequent each day, sometimes I’m a silent observer, glimpsed only through the IP address that announces my arrival and departure to the site’s owner as I swing by, read their post, and move on. Other times I’ll stick around, click through the archives or the categories, leave a comment here or answer a poll question there – and by doing so I’ll have introduced myself, offered a link back to Burbanked, and perhaps a tentative blogging relationship has been established.

And then there are the sites that I haunt; where I race to their stories regardless of topic or title, just to see what they’re going to say next. Where I’ve formed good blogging-kinships and have exchanged comments, links and e-mails as we continue to discover our common perceptions and frustrations with films and pop culture.

The Rec Show is exactly that kind of site. In an entertainment world that has learned to embrace Judd Apatow’s special brand of profane slacker humor, this quirky, brazen, and occasionally stunningly vulgar site fits right in. The Rec Show’s contributors Ray, Eric, Chris and KC balance criticism with crabbiness; they passionately share their love of film, television and music; and they rail with righteous fury against those celebrities unfortunate enough to do or say dumb things. It’s a site where raunchy fratboy-like musings are often followed by the cogent and reasoned critique of veteran media writers. The Rec Show is loud, mean, smart, bizarre, hilarious and angry. It’s chummy if you get along with them and brutal if you don’t – but it is never, ever dull.

The site’s earliest incarnation was as a radio program, begun about six years ago by Ray, Eric and Chris, a trio of long-time coworkers and friends in St. Louis. All opinionated, all passionate about music, TV and movies, the three experimented with a few different platforms – and took a year-long hiatus when an argument caused them to stop talking to each other – before landing on their current format. As the site’s chief architect and mastermind, Ray writes mostly about movies and celebrities; Eric favors music news and Chris tends to focus on television. The site’s newest contributor KC fills in the gaps with posts that run the gamut of the site’s entertainment industry neighborhood. And as far as blogs go, The Rec Show is an ambitious one, where Ray and the others plan to build a 24-hour radio show, a robust set of message forums and even – rather shockingly – children’s programming.

Go to The Rec Show for the writing and you’ll stay for the camaraderie. The four nearly always comment on each other’s posts, and poke fun at each other together via a chat interface in the site’s sidebar. Each of the four lends his own brand of bloggers’ slap-assery to the show – agreeing, arguing, jibing, insulting. Nothing is off-limits and the sense of verbal abuse one-upmanship is palpable among the four who obviously feel such respect and friendship with each other – despite the frequent and copious putdowns and jeers between them. Quite simply, it’s a rollicking good time, a place where one can allow himself to snicker, snort and generally embrace his inner Beavis with impunity.

Of course, not everyone respects impunity. Several months ago, in reaction to the news of wrestler Chris Benoit and his part in the murder/suicide of his wife and child, Ray wrote a particularly angry post aimed at Benoit and the wrestler’s fans. Several days and a string of furious comments later, The Rec Show had its homepage and archives hacked and scattered apart. Ray has put all the pieces back together and has improved the overall look and functionality of the site, although the archives are still broken and might never be restored completely.

For my money, The Rec Show is among the best of the group blogs out there. It features fresh voices of raw opinion and hilarious moments of pop culture sarcasm where Ray, Eric, Chris and KC are free to run roughshod over whatever has irritated their sensibilities. They have also been consistent supporters of Burbanked and have been very encouraging in my development and commitment as a blogger.

Go check out The Rec Show today. Just make sure you don’t piss Ray off; you really don’t want that kind of heat.