The Art of Cinema (sound pretentious? ooooh, you just wait), reading great books and even cheesy ones, music of all kinds (mostly good alternative rock, singer-songwriter acoustic stuff, power pop, new country and classic jazz), cooking, eating good cooking, reading about cooking, comedy (stand-up, sketch and improv), dogs and spending quality time with my awesome son and my lovely wife. I'm also a San Francisco Giants fan (though I'm temporarily a NY Mets fan until Barry leaves) and a very loyal USC Trojan. Having been in the business for years I also love fun, creative, exciting radio...when I can find it. So...let me know when you find it.
Martin Scorcese, David Letterman, Miles Davis and Leonardo DaVinci. The last two are dead, so...you know...might be difficult. And I've actually met Letterman...twice...but it wasn't like over steaks and cigars or something, which would be the ideal scenario. And I think I'd like to meet Ann Coulter, as long as I had a working cattle prod and a bullwhip on me. (Which, by the way...I very often do.)
Crowded House/Neil Finn/Finn Brothers, Beatles, Bob Schneider, Shins, The New Pornographers, Miles Davis (before he got weird and electric and weird), Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Django Reinhardt, Queen, Jellyfish, Jason Falkner/The Grays, Minibar, David Mead, Travis, Snow Patrol, Powderfinger, Muse, Patty Griffin, Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds", Old 97's/Rhett Miller, Nickel Creek, Ben Folds, ELO/Jeff Lynne, Fountains of Wayne, Jude Cole, Cheap Trick, Chris Cornell, Beck, Bright Eyes, Guster, Shelby Lynne, Springsteen, Green Day, REM, U2, 70's-era One Hit Wonders...oh, lord, this could go on a while...
("Borat" is the funniest movie I've seen in 10 years. Seriously. Cohen is brilliant. Go. See. You're welcome.) Citizen Kane!!! (Is it cliched to have that at the top of my list? Can't help it. It was, truly, the only real cathartic experience I've ever had watching a film...so, I'm keeping it up there. Nyaah.) Jaws, Godfather I and II, The Conversation, His Girl Friday, The Third Man, Local Hero, Tender Mercies, Raging Bull, City of God, The Insider, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Wings of Desire, Day for Night, 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, Children of Paradise, Grand Illusion, Diva, Waiting for Guffman, Eternal Sunshine..., The Great Escape, Star Wars, Dr. Strangelove, All The President's Men, Tootsie, Die Hard, Never Cry Wolf, The Natural, The Duellists, Fearless, Schindler's List, Good Fellas, M. Hulot's Holiday, Young Frankenstein, The Crying Game, Diabolique, Wages of Fear, Dog Day Afternoon, Apocalypse Now, They All Laughed, Searching for Bobby Fisher, Saving Private Ryan, Some Like it Hot, It's A Wonderful Life, Singin' In The Rain, Do The Right Thing, Malcom X, Miller's Crossing, The Man Who Wasn't There, Tommy Boy, Moonlighting (with Jeremy Irons, not the TV series, silly), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (pre-Special Edition...geez, Spielberg, leave the shiznit alone!), Breaking Away, Smoke, Go, 'Round Midnight, Manhattan, Annie Hall, The Navigator: A Medieval Journey, The General (Buster Keaton), Duck Soup, A Night At The Opera, Animal Crackers, Philadelphia Story, Mulholland Drive...to...be...continued...
The Office (both of 'em), Arrested Development, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Lost, Scrubs, SNL, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Entourage...from back-in-the-day, Cheers, Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Fawlty Towers, M*A*S*H, Friends, Johnny Carson, Ernie Kovacks, Brady Bunch, The Monkees and Zoom! ("Write Zoom! Z-double-O-M, Box 3-5-0...Boston, Mass...Ooooh-two-one-three-four. Send it to Zoom!")
Currently reading "Love in the Time of Cholera" though not ACTUALLY currently as I write this...but perhaps as you're reading this. Faves: "Heart of Darkness" by Conrad; "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving; "The Adventures of Cavalier & Clay" by Michael Chabon; "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller; "Ask the Dust" by John Fante; "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers; "Bonfire of the Vanities" by Tom Wolfe; "What Makes Sammy Run?" by Budd Schulberg; "On The Road" by Kerouac; "The Great Gatsby" by Fitzgerald; "Enduring Love" by Ian McEwan; "The Shipping News" by E. Annie Proulx; everything by David Sedaris. Do plays count? "Glengarry Glen Ross" by David Mamet. Anything George S. Kaufman wrote.
DaVinci, Miles Davis, Spielberg, Scorcese, Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, Letterman, Glenda Ruth Morgan (mom...miss you) and Kitt the Talking Car.