I’m sure most if not all of you are aware that Dennis Hopper passed away in the last few days. Considering he made a small impact on my life, I figured the least I could do is doff my digital hat for the man.

Dennis Hopper was a complete contradiction. He was under contract as an actor part of the old studio system, appearing in TV westerns (incl. “The Rifleman”) and several films (incl. “Rebel without a Cause”) before revealing himself as complete counter-culturist rebel, willing and eager to work outside of the system in the name of creating art he was proud of.

He and Peter Fonda are big - maybe even the biggest - reasons for the popularity of motorcycles in the later half of the 20th century. I know I can place at least some of the blame for my love of motorcycles on this film, and, by proxy, on Hopper. While I’ve always considered the film incredibly uneven, there are a few moments of absolute beauty, and touches of utter brilliance.

His turn in “Apocalypse Now” is one of my all time personal favorites. And no one who has seen “Blue Velvet” can ever get Frank Booth scrubbed out of their mind. He managed to go toe-to-toe (and perhaps even best) Christopher Walken in “True Romance,” and he was better in “Speed” than the movie deserved. Even “Hell Ride,” one of his more recent films, is a more than decent performance.

See that last picture up there? The one with him sitting on the impossibly cool Indian - with a side-car(!) that he rode in “Hell Ride?”

I hope to look that awesome one day.