Sarcasm, philosophy and theology, eschatology, the intersection of faith and reason, beauty, photography, design (web and otherwise), travel, driving around in the middle of the night, boozing, updating my website (angstdei.com)
People in the city. People in the country. People in the suburbs, exurbs, para-urbs. People on the street, people on the lane, people parking on the driveway and people driving on the parkway. People on the mountains and people at the beach. People on the land and people in the sea. People on Earth, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. People in underground bases. Hell yeah, and people floating in the sky. People with tans, and people like Boo Radley. People with a bright light in their eyes, and people with a sadness as deep as the ocean.
I want to meet you, people.
In general I love punk, noise, and beauty. I love bands that put everything they have, every bit of their soul, into their music. I love bands that end up smashing everything, that smash their instruments, smash the stage, smash their brains, smash their audience, that begin in squalling feedback and end in pure cacophony. I love bands that make me feel like my heart was just ripped out of my chest, still beating. I love bands with the word "The" in front. I love bands that make me feel like a little girl. I love bands that give corporations the finger. I love bands that make me want to dance. And I love bands that make me feel like I could go kick someone's ass right now. To get specific: I love The Stooges, The Germs, The Ramones, Blondie, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Killing Joke, Sonic Youth, The Melvins, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Pixies, Bowie, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mazzy Star, Joan Jett, The Go-Go's, Johnny Cash, The Beach Boys, The Shirelles, Ennio Morricone, and Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky. From this century I dig The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Franz Ferdinand, and The Faint.
But the number one band in my heart is and always will be:
Bladerunner, Lost in Translation, Eternal Sunshine, Science of Sleep, Fight Club, Full Metal Jacket, Strange Days, Groundhog Day, Cinema Paradiso, Fistful of Dollars
Aqua Teen, Subterranean, Tuesday Twoplay, The Alternative, Monk, Samurai Jack, The Daily Show, My Name Is Earl, Rescue Me, and, hmm, that late night show with the Indian and all of the colors.
Books, books, books. My favorite reading deals with ideas, and when it comes to novels, that usually means Science Fiction. My top five authors would be Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Douglas Coupland. GK Chesterton, CS Lewis, and Umberto Eco rank among my favorite essayists.
On the philosopho-theological front, there is of course that big Book with all the 'begats'; the classic theologians like Augustine and Aquinas; and also more recent work, like Nietzsche and Kant. I think Sarte's a loser. If we're talking political philosophy, Thomas Paine's Common Sense kicks ass, and the Federalist Papers take names. If those seem a bit, ahh, dated, check out the guys and gals at Reason , who put out a constant stream of great stuff.
Most recently I've been reading a lot of travel guides, in anticipation of my upcoming Eurotrip.
But what's that, you say? What books do I hate? Why, I'm so glad you asked. I absolutely hated Ecstasy Club by Douglas Rushkoff, but that is nothing compared to the utter and complete loathing I feel for Ayn Rand's capitalist apocalypse Atlas Shrugged. I might, might, become okay with the book if only, for God's sake, someone moved it from Fic/Lit to the Science Fiction section where it belongs. But until that day it sits on the same shelves as Heinlein and Hubbard, I'm going to feel a little bit of understanding for gatherings like these:
kiLL yR iDOLs