Music:
(right now...) a lot of jazz, miles davis, chet baker, herbie hancock, billy holliday, horace silver, and others. coltrane. Mingus is amazing. monk.(staples...)ryan adams, sigur ros, derek webb, sufjan stevens, and a steady flow of indie folk and indie rock.
Movies:
shogun assassin, magnolia, the godfather, glory, great expectations, Shawshank redemption, life aquatic, dead poets society, any war film, All Rockies but V.
Television:
the office, twin peaks
Books:
the hobbit, how to be a villian, zombie survival handbook, divine conspiracy, the little prince, old man and the sea, the four loves. Till We Have Faces.
Heroes:
http://www.shatnerhasbeen.com/