Planet of the Meerkats is an ongoing discussion between old friends about pop culture, history, music, movies, and our hopes for the future.
Dave and Neil met on the T-ball field at the ages of five. Growing up they moved in and out of each others’ lives, but reconnected after high school when they worked together at Pizza Hut and, a few years later, Mervyn’s. In the summer of 1999 these two soon-to-be college sophomores decided to kill some time by starting a music and culture blog, a place where they would document their shared obsessions. Dave had some rudimentary coding skills, and Neil had a little plastic meerkat figurine on the dashboard of his Honda Civic — thus, Planet of the Meerkats was born.
Dave Garrison
(he/his/him) Dave has had a mustache since the third grade and was once told he has the voice of a phone sex operator. He likes to binge Star Trek with his wife and two daughters, and play with his Legos. Dave is a Doctor (the Jill Biden kind) and likes to read. Dave is cool in his own way, which is to say, not cool at all. He is happy that he is now one of the Daves you know.
Neil Freese
(he/his/him) Neil loves tuna sandwiches but always leaves one itsy bitsy bite of tuna in the bowl, which drives his wife crazy. He wears very impractical shoes and skinny jeans but flosses regularly and never leaves dirty dishes in the sink, so it all evens out. Neil is obsessed with music and collects vinyl records but luckily has pretty good taste. When he’s not busy being an awesome dad, he’s probably cooking, making pottery, or singing very poorly.
