The '80s • being a human jukebox (not beatbox, although I can do that too) • chicken • Disneyland • grammar • Halloween • hygiene • insomnia • karaoke • libertarianism • logic • music • music • music • nerdy types • new wave • observation • pizza • postmodernism • punctuation • salads • Sobe • spelling • synthesizers • teetotaling • thought (especially before speaking and acting) • tolerance (although I think there should be a more appropriate term) • the UK • video games. (I'm quite a hit at parties, as you might imagine.)
• Like-minded people
• Creative folks that aren't psychotic or self-nihilistic
• Fellow geeks and young alien types
• Local keyboard players to play my music
• Teetotalers (Are there any left on Earth?)
• People who enjoy thinking and can put together a complete sentence
• People who value who you are over what you do (or don't do) for a living
• People who value Truth
• Musicians who put the music FIRST
• Willow Rosenberg
Here are my top two tiers or so of favorite artists, in order, more or less:
Talking Heads • Devo • They Might Be Giants • The Divine Comedy • Elvis Costello (esp. w/ the Attractions) • The Magnetic Fields (and other Stephin Merritt projects, particularly Future Bible Heroes) • XTC (and The Dukes Of Stratosphear) • Oingo Boingo • The Beatles (and various solo work) • The Smiths (and Morrissey ) • The Pixies • Thomas Dolby • Kraftwerk • Sparks • Beck • Eels • Weezer (1994-1996) • The Modern Lovers (and Jonathan Richman ) • Ben Folds Five (and Ben Folds solo) • David Bowie (1967-1983) • Pulsars • The Velvet Underground • The Beach Boys (1962-1977) (and Brian Wilson ) • The B-52's • Love • Joe Jackson (mainly 1979-1982) • The Rentals • New Musik • The White Stripes • Nirvana • Bjork • The Cars • Pet Shop Boys (the Ramones of synthpop) • The Ramones • Michael Jackson (yeah, yeah, I know) • Jimi Hendrix (especially with The Experience) • The Doors • The Monkees (1966-1969) • Cap'n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters • John Daker .
Etc. etc. etc.
If you're really bored, check out my 25 desert island discs . (I reserve the right to edit.)
Some excellent local bands that you really ought to check out: Present Tense . The Scandells . Vena Cava . SlowMo Erotic .
Some cool not-so-local bands: Ted Tobbin And The Pedestrian . The Undone .
Ghostbusters • Grosse Pointe Blank • Pee-wee's Big Adventure • Ferris Bueller's Day Off • Star Wars: Episodes III-VI • Dead Poets Society • Rushmore • This Is Spinal Tap • The Christopher Guest Trilogy (Waiting For Guffman, A Mighty Wind, Best In Show, in that order) • Ghost World • Better Off Dead • That Thing You Do! • Stop Making Sense • Clue • The Breakfast Club • Being John Malkovich • Reservoir Dogs • Pulp Fiction • Raiders Of The Lost Ark • The Princess Bride • Happy Gilmore • Three Amigos! • Mystery Men • Spaceballs • High Fidelity • The Sixth Sense • Fletch • Hudson Hawk (yes, I'm serious).
DIRECTORS: Christopher Guest • Wes Anderson • Quentin Tarantino • Spike Jonze • John Hughes (up to about 1989) • Tim Burton (sometimes) • M. Night Shyamalan (including "The Village," dammit!) • Alfred Hitchcock.
ACTORS: Christopher Guest • Eugene Levy • John Cusack • Gary Oldman • Johnny Depp • Steve Buscemi • Kevin Spacey • Samuel L. Jackson (before he lost all sense of quality control) • Dan Aykroyd (in his heyday) • Harrison Ford (heyday) • Bill Murray • Rick Moranis • Bruce Willis (sometimes) • Robin Williams (more for his dramatic work than comedic, ironically).
ACTRESSES: Parker Posey (*sigh*) • Minnie Driver • Rachel Weisz • Kate Winslet • Alyson Hannigan (*sigh again*) • Olivia Williams • Catherine O'Hara • Joan Cusack • Catherine Keener • Thora Birch.
I got bored. Here is my DVD collection.
I haven't really watched television since college (and with good reason, I feel). Most of my favorites are old:
Seinfeld • Mystery Science Theater 3000 • SCTV • Curb Your Enthusiasm • Blackadder • Fawlty Towers • Monty Python's Flying Circus • Late Night with Conan O'Brien • Saturday Night Live (even now) • The Daily Show with Jon Stewart • Family Ties • Three's Company • Real Time with Bill Maher • Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t! • In Living Color • The Kids In The Hall • The Twilight Zone • Pee-wee's Playhouse • NewsRadio • Countdown with Keith Olbermann • Square One TV • Ladysmith Black Mambazo in Outer Space • Jihad .
The Beatles: Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley • Breakfast Of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut • A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man by James Joyce • Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson • SCTV: Behind The Scenes by Dave Thomas.
Sadly, I haven't read many novels for pleasure since college, but I absolutely devour music biographies.
Bill Hicks • Elvis Costello • Kurt Vonnegut • DEVO • Kraftwerk • Larry David • Best Brains • Christopher Guest • Galileo • Morrissey • Paul Frees • Richard Edlund • Robert Moog • Thomas Dolby oH?A2 Louis Tully • Cameron Frye • Fred Schneider.