I'm a history and media kind of guy: I like books, music, movies, comics... all sorts of gobbledygook. I like to read, debate, and brainstorm. I LOVE storytelling, and figuring out the structure of it. Some people like to tinker with machines. With me, it's story. Some people are into sports; I'm into national politics.
:)
VH (ONLY the Roth stuff... Welcome Back!), Jane's Addiction, Hanoi Rocks, NY Dolls, Living Colour, Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, Al Green, pre-GLASS HOUSES Billy Joel, Dinah Washington, Basie, Duke, Ella, Sinatra, G'n'R (APPETITE only, really), Stones (especially the 70's/early 80's stuff), Mother Love Bone, Miles Davis, Orbital, Ozzy, Parliament/Funkadelic, Sly & The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Soundgarden, System, Foo Fighters, Propellerheads, Muse, and a whole slew of Swedish bands, strangely enough: Hardcore Superstar, Crashdiet, Babylon Bombs, and Hell N' Diesel so far. Something's in the water over there...
The first two GODFATHER movies; the first two STAR WARS MOVIES ( and by that I mean STAR WARS and EMPIRE, not the new "first two movies"); the first two STAR TREK movies... sensing a theme here. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN; KRAMER VS. KRAMER; THE USUAL SUSPECTS; The original PLANET OF THE APES; WHEN WE WERE KINGS; RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK; CLOSE ENCOUNTERS; TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD; TWELVE ANGRY MEN; GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS; BLAZING SADDLES; X-MEN; X2; THE INCREDIBLES; JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBURG; THE IRON GIANT; THE VERDICT; THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL; WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE; WHY WE FIGHT; THE FOG OF WAR; PATTON; THE DIRTY DOZEN; TORA! TORA! TORA!; OPEN RANGE; QUIZ SHOW; THANK YOU FOR SMOKING; JAWS; THE HUSTLER; NETWORK; GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK; 300; O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU; NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN... and on and on and on. What can I say? I love movies...
THE DAILY SHOW; COLBERT REPORT; the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA; FRONTLINE; VENTURE BROS.; BAND OF BROTHERS; THE WEST WING (to the very end, baby); SCRUBS; THE OFFICE; DOGFIGHTS on THC; 30 ROCK; THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM. I do get on rerun kicks sometimes. One month it was M*A*S*H, another month it was THE BIG VALLEY, another it was BONANZA... I have no explanation for this. It just happens. Right now it's this remastered, re-FX'ed STAR TREK (the original) that comes on at 2AM on the weekend. Thank god for DVR's...
David Ray Griffin's books on the events and inconsistencies surrounding 9/11; ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and THE FINAL DAYS, both by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward; MY ADVENTURES AS AN ILLUSTRATOR, by Norman Rockwell; Anumber of books by David McCullough; BAND OF BROTHERS, EISENHOWER, and THE WILD BLUE, all by Stephen Ambrose; NO ORDINARY TIME, by Doris Kearns Goodwin; LINCOLN, by Philip Kunhardt; ROCKET BOYS, by Homer Hickam; WATCHMEN, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons; THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, by Frank Miller; anything by Will Eisner; 100 BULLETS, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso; HELLBOY, by Mike Mignola; BARBARIANS AT THE GATE, by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar; THE DIRT, by Motley Crue; THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & KLAY, by Michael Chabon; MEN OF TOMORROW: GEEKS, GANGSTERS, & THE BIRTH OF THE COMIC BOOK, by my friend Gerard Jones. Lot of stuff, actually. Reading is fundamental.
Harry Truman; FDR; Steven Spielberg; Mike Mignola; The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts; and let's not forget Batman, Indiana Jones, and Captain Kirk; and the late, great Will Eisner (R.I.P., Mr. E... One doesn't often get to meet one's heroes, and when one does, it can often be a disappointment. You weren't; you were a brilliant and wonderfully kind human being, and I'm glad to have been able to know you a little). Let me add, for the moment, Keith Olbermann. There exists no ballsier guy than he in all of TV "journalism."And I'll add my late, very good friend, Mike Wieringo. We'll all soldier on without you, pal, but it doesn't mean you didn't leave a mark. Here's to ya, lad. You are really, really missed.