I have about a hundred and one hobbies in addition to the music stuff that appears to dominate my life.
I am an intellect, an introverted extrovert, and not very good at filling these things out (haha, with all this text maybe that's not quite true). I believe life is a series of moments and it is important to take advantage of as many as possible. I enjoy ellipsis and a very diversified range of interests such as music (especially playing drums, listening to everything below, reading history and being involved in the industry), writing, cooking and eating (Creole / cajun, Mexican / Southwester, Asian esp Japaneese and Thai, Iberian Pensula dishes, French, etc...), hiking, fishing, the outdoors (esp. beaches and mountains), pubs, rock clubs (RIP CBGBs and so many other amazing NY/NJ clubs over the years...), scotch, coffee (stronger the better, vanilla or pumpkin pie flavored), peanutbutter, fudge, classic cars (espeically Mustangs), aquariums (especially my two tanks at home with Africian Chiclids and Gouromi), museums, Baseball (especially the NY Yankees, though I'm a DC Nattions & old school Sens fan), Hockey (especially The Washington Capitals, Montreal Canadians & NY Rangers), Football (especially the Washington Redskins and NY Giants), reading books and newspapers (I read the funny pages in the paper first because I need a laugh before delving into the more serious matters of world events, C. Schulz will be forever missed! Mutts and Calvin and Hobbes are also personal faves...thanks to the AP, Reuters & Digital Music News wires for killing hours of reading on end), the internet (addiction??), cartoons (esp. the simpsons, rockey and bullwinkle...Love the real kings of the genre: W. Hanna, J. Barbara, I.F. Freiling, R.T. Avery, R. McKimson, B. Clampet, C. Jones, L. Schlesinger, F. Quimby...etc. plus some Disney stuff, Family Guy, Futurama, etc...), choo choo trains (both modles and the real thing), playing billiards / pool, skeeball and mini golf...
I: love using formalities like sir and ma'am, please and thank you and more; have a tonne of Jersey Pride; have too much music in my collection to fit in my apartment; enjoy an awesome family; am half French Canadian and half Portuguese and love both, get a kick out of sarcasm and puns; enjoy asking questions till there are more more answers (and making lists of them...); love my passions and get attached to them quickly and ardently, etc.,...
My favorite places are: Yakataw Park, the Applachian Trail through the Delaware Water Gap along the Kittannies in Western Jersey, Ringwood State Park and skyline drive, Ramapo Mountain (where I also fish), Weiss Conservatory, the Palasades skyline parks, Mercer County Park, D&R Canal Parks, Carnegie Lake Park and Asupink Resevoir Parks, inside the Pine Barrens, upstate NY in the Adriondaks. Also, before Memorial Day and After Labor Day I go out to Sandy Hook State Park. Central Park, the Village in NYC, Vintage Vinyl, Princeton Record Exchance, Loony Tunes LI, Yankee Stadium, CBGBs (RIP), The Natonal Aquarium in Baltimore... Aquariums or anypace with fish, flower gardens (esp. w/ lillies!), old ballparks & ice rinks, museums, classic car shows, a quiet treelined street, my bedroom with my fishtanks, in the kitchen cooking, a creole or southwestern cusine resturant, a killer local coffee shop, and anyplace I can conversations with friends over a fine bourbon, scotch, whiskey, red wine (esp. Ports & Cabs) or ales (I love a good IPA) like a nice quaint pub.
I love hanging out with friends in general. I love to share the experience of life with others, even if I am not exactly the most social person in the world.
I could, obviously, certainly continue on, but I'll spare you the reading, message me for more...
People, God, space aliens, and the voices in my head
Organ grinder monkeys and pirates, Homer Simpson, Charlie Brown, Bullwinkle Moose, Holden Caufield, Tom Sawyer, Atticus Finch, Mark Twain, Mary Shelly, Lewis Carol, Alexander Ovechkin, Saku Koivu, Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter, Lou Gherig, Mike Rowe, Emeril Lagasse, Ben Franklin, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Margret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Charles Schulz, Tim Burton, Petr Iliad Tchovochsky, Charles Ives, John Lennon, Max Roach, Gene Kurpa, Buddy Rich, Neil Peart, Nicko McBrain, John Bomhan, Keith Moon, Ian Paice, Joe Torre, George Steinbrenner & the NY Yankees, the Montreal Canadians, the Washington Capitals, the Washington Nationals (and former DC Sens) the artists & musicians I've not had the honor of meeting yet by still adore as a fan and all of those charactors living or dead, real or created who inspired me throughout my life to this point.
Other hikers, fishermen, conservationalists, music entheusiasts, audiophiles, nerds, "liberal Catholics," intellects, artists, writers, photographers, percussionists / drummers and other musicians, legal people (esp. intellectual property law), entertainment marketers esp. specializing in internet & new media, mechanics & Ford people, lovers of Spring & Atutumn, hockey fans, yankee fans, tropical fish breeders, intorverted extroverts, past friends, etc and anyone who is open-minded and open-hearted, communicative, honest, trustworthy, truthful, faithful, ardent, dedicated, monogamous, respectful, genuine, sincere, moral, reliable and with self-confidence, self-respect, dignity and integrity.
I have no more time left in my life for those people with no respect for my life.
I've been a die hard music fan for about as long as I can remember. In some ways they probably do not want to hear it, but it is all my parents fault. No seriously... As a child, I can't ever remember a time when there wasn't music playing (or I wasn't playing it).
Oh, where to begin... does anyone read this stuff anyhow apart from bands trying to add me?? Try this on for size... over 5000 pieces of tangable music from 78rpm records through CDs and thousands more songs on mp3 now that the ipod is rocking.
speaking of the ipod, here's what's on it:
"Alternative": At the Drive-In, Alice in Chains, Cave In, Deftones, Demon Hunter, Earthtone 9, Faith No More, Fugazi, Funeral For a Friend, the Great Deceiver, Helmet, Kiss Kiss, Incubus, Janes Addiction, King's X, Live, The Might Mighty Bosstones, Mr Bungle, Muse, The Nixons, Oceansize, Oysterhead, Radiohead, Pitchshifter, The Police, Porno For Pyros, Primus, Project 86, Quicksand, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shift, Spiritualized, Soundgarden, System of a Down, Therapy?, U2, Unsane, VAST, Vaux
Classic Rock & Metal: AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Guns n Roses, Iron Maide, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Living Color, Megadeth, Metallica, Motley Crue, Motorhead, Ozzy, Van Hallen
Doom & Atmosphere: A Perfect Circile, Agalloch, Amorphis, Anathema, Antimater, Green Carnation, Katatonia, My Dying Bride, Opeth, Paradise Lost, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Sentenced, Tool, Type O Negative
Prog: Coheed & Cambria, Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, King Crimson, Queensryche, Rush, Savagage, Yes
Punk & Hardcore: A Wilhelm Scream, Alexisonfire, Blindsie, The Bouncing Souls, Boysetsfire, Disembodied, Embodyment, Emery, Everytimeidie, Far, From Autumn to Ashes, Green Day, H2O, Haste the Day, Indecision, The Killing Tree, Killswitch Engage, Leeway, The Letters Organize, The.Radio.Sky, The Modern Day Saint, Most Precious Blood, Overcast, Poison the Well, Refused, Rise Against, Still Remains, Snapcase, Stretch Arm Strong, This.Day.Forward, Thrice, Thursday, Time In Malta, Underoath, The Valley Arena, Vision of Disorder
"Rock": Black Label Society, Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, Down, Entombed, Fight, High on Fire, Lynyrd Skynkrd, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Neurosis, Scissorfight, Seemless, Sevendust, Signal to Noise, Soil
Tech & Grind: All.Shall.Perish, Becoming the Archetype, Blood Has Been Shed, Breather Resist, Candiria, Cephalic Carnage, Converge, Cryptopsy, Cynic, The Dillinger Escape Plan, the Esoteric, Folly, Gospel, Into the Moat, Neck, Norma Jean, The Number 12 Looks Like You, Skinless, Soilent Green, Strapping Young Lad, Will Haven
Trash & Death: A Life Once Lost, All That Remains, Arch Enemy, As I Lay Dying, At the Gates, Avenged Sevenfold, Bleeding Through, Byzantine, Carcass, Children of Bodom, Chimaira, Dark Tranquility, Death, the Defaced, Extol, Fear Factory, Fear My Thoughts, God Forbid, Grip Inc., The Haunted, Heaven Shall Burn, If Hope Dies, In Flames, Into Eternity, Lamb of God, Living Sacrifice, Machine Head, Meshuggah, Nodes of Ranvier, Pantera, Pissing Razors, Reflux, Sepultura, Skinlab, Soilwork, Summer Dying, Trestament, Trivium, Unearth, Zao
Jazz Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, T. Monk, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin
Yeah, I listen to this too: Ptyr Illiad Tchychovcski, Jean Sibalius, Stravinsky, Aaron Copeland, Wagner, Verdi, Holst
Might go without saying: the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Being a percussionist set the table for a love of all things music. I could analyze why I listen to all that I do, but honestly, it's more than would fit well here.
What is a movie?? Do I even have time to watch this stuff??
I like "well done" epics and "good" series films - otherwise the occasional old school "horror" that was more suspense and less gore and some other stuff that I'm not sure what catagory it goes into.
If you have read this far: anything Tim Burton related, the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (both series, though the originals are FAR superior to the new ones), Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, anything Kevin Smith related, 007 James Bond (Connery was a God, Brosnan era close second), Cusack in High Fidelity and Say Anything, old Disney full-length animation, Jaws, Friday the 13th, Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, anything Alfred Hitchcock, Amelie (can you believe that makes the list?), momento, most things Robin Williams related, The Pink Panther series, cheezy 80's teen flicks (hey you gotta go back to your roots somewhere) etc.
What I hate: predictable plotlines, anything with a singer turned movie star, anything derivitative or structured on the one and a half hour dumbed down for potential tv broadcast cut from the hollywood mold, really poor cinematography and editing, horrible use of language or reliance on either blood, sex or cgi to carry a film...
I don't like most tv and shouldn't have time for it anyhow... but my all time favorites include the Simpsons, Rockey & Bullwinkle, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Tiny Tunes, Anamaniacs, South Park, Peanuts, old early 80s era Saturday Morning Cartoons (esp. Hanna & Barbara).
If I am not watching cartoons I might be found watching the old E.R. and N Y P D Blue episodes, 24, Arested Development and pretty much anything on the Animal Channel, the Food Network, the Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, etc. i'm sure there might be a few other's I am missing
Apart from that, the only other things I will watch are hockey, baseball and football, the yes network, madison square garden network, espn, fsn, etc.
If the mood catches me right I might hit up MTV or Fuse, but I watch my vids online if I do these days.
Yeah, I read. I'm supposedly a writer according to the 101 BLOG posts i have up already and of course, there's always my weekly emails and review contributions, etc. However, when i'm not writing myself, i'm drawing inspiration...
Lewis Carroll, Mary Shelly, Hemmingway, Dickins, Tolkein, London, Hitchcock, Twain, Lee, Vernes and more. I love classic literature but those probably hit the closest to home, and no, it's not my love of wordiness.
Do cartoon animators count? Schultz, Suess, Waterson, Greoning, etc.
Lame as it sounds, a couple of business writers, specifically Jim Collins... and I just finished Chris Anderson's "The Long Tail" which was very interesting.
To all of my family, extended family, step-family and friends who probably should be family anyhow -
Jeannette "Cheshire Cat" Peltier
Stupid Soubriquettes Steve "drunkerham lincoln" Schwarz, the Master of Mayhem
Ben Markese, D.L.H.
Jackie "Where's My Drink" Pedraza
Amy "who don't I work for?" Sciarretto
Sean "Pellet-goat" Pelletier
Andrew "drewcifer" Sample
Cheryl "J.P." Valentine
Tom "Smitty" Smith
Andrew "it's really a Harely" McMichael
Dave "Rainbow Road" Vagasky
John "el Prez" Adams
Darrin "leather daddy" Fieber
Tracey "marachi" West
Lord Chip McCabe
Elaine "red" Ranus
Raja "I want a Mustang too!" Soi
The TiNK
Brother Gregory at CHC
"Radio" Dave Elrich
Bobby "tastebuds" Maro"
Jason "trucker" Durand
Anthony "thriller" Russinello
Mike "Millenium" Falcone
Mike "Tiz" Tisdale
Jason "Cheech" Debiak
Moose
Ralph "311" Aloia
and the many more who don't fit here, I forgot, or didn't have a good nickname for!
To the many teachers, administrators and staff who helped educate me in the class room and beyond at Pace University NYC , Lubin School of Business, New York University NYC , School of Continuing and Professional Studies, , , University of Hartford CT , Hartt School of Music and Barney School of Business and throughout highschool at West Windsor-Plainsboro Highschool and Calvert Hall College Prep, as well as all of my private music instructors, coaches and mentors over the years!
To all those who worked with me, tolerated me, freaked out on me and pushed me to be the best I can be at WSAM, WWUH, WCCC, the Informer, the Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association (MEISA), the Hartford Metal Militia, U of H Program Council, U of H H.N.P.M., the WWPHS Pirate Band, the WWPHS sports department, the CHC Fighting Cardnals Band, the U of H Percussion Ensemble, U of H Capitol Winds, the Baltimore Colts Parade Band, E.M.B.A., C.M.B.C., the Boys and Girls Club of Union NJ Swim Team, Boy Scouts Pack 163 Watchung Area Council, Al's Sunoco, Island Records / Polygram, Red Ant Entertainment, Tourdates.com, the Syndicate, Eyeball Records, etc.
For the CMJ Music Marathon (so many years of great panels, thanks for having me moderate and speak so often!), I.B.S. (amazing time every time thanks for having me), Philadelphia Music Conference, New Jersey Independant Music Festival, University of Hartford MEISA chapter and other's for daring to have me speak at their conventions.