Keyword: gemini. Being such a startled, starlit sentient, I seem to be interested in so many things that my attention is continually deprived of finding focal points. Versatile, yes but damn I wish I could stick with something to the end! But to please this frame of reference, my most significant interests are as follows. Numero uno: la musique. Music has always been a compulsive obsession. OK taking up too much space here so rat-a-tat-tat: also into writing, poetry (William Blake is da man! - and let's not neglect the numinous Rabindranath Tagore), football, hockey, sitars, India, aliens, peanut butter cookies (MMMMMmmmmm), jah-work,
Everyone, anyone. I dig people. Everyone seems to have their story, every life is something mystical, magical and meaningful. I am perpetually mollified by the uniqueness of everyone's life experiences; all their richness and dynamism. And yet, what is the ultimate coolness, is that we all share common threads; we are all somehow experiencing the same thing, but we all have the potential to generate our own perspectives on things. We are all Creators, baby! And all children of most high! Create your reality! Take back the power taken from us from a mundane socio-techno-political world that wants to retard us, enslave us to idiotic worldviews. Fuck man, look at that tree over there! I mean what is that? What is everything, anything?! We are the void...
Music is my essence, absolutely. My soul is a symphony, literally: everywhere I go, music is constantly channeling through me. I can't turn it off! As I've said, I'm myself trying to be a musician now; a singer-songwriter by trade and it's going well. I've been organizing these open mic events here in Tianjin, China for over a year now with friends and it gives me not only a chance to share some of my creations but listen to those of others. The parties have been a smashing success and hopefully someone will continue to carry the torch once I leave. My favourite band is The Verve, with emphasis on their earlier recordings. They produced someone of the most ethereal rock music I've ever heard before attaining global fame deservedly on the wings of much more conventional tunes. Check out their first LP A Storm in Heaven to get an idea what I'm talking about. My favourite album of all time is Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden, recorded in 1988. The sound of the album was so before its time and it still generates some of the highest emotions music has ever endowed me with. But really, I'm a fan of all types, for the minimal graces of the composer Arvo Part, to the pagan poetry of Lorenna McKennitt to the arias of opera man you name I dig it. Music is the most visceral art humanity is capable of. One great song can take you so far beyond yourself. Music is a healer.
Not a huge movie buff, but I enjoy anything that heightens on awareness of political issues especially in a passionate way, such as Hotel Rwanda, Cry Freedom to name a few. Immense fan of all of Stanley Kubrick's works. 2001: A Space Odyssey truly changed my life and perspective of reality. Of course, a good comedy, in the satiral, caustic vein is good too. Some of my favourite flicks are Darren Aronofsky's "Pie", Dr. Strangelove, Cinema Paradiso, The Barbarian Invasion, Braveheart, Donnie Darko, Reality Bites, Waking Life and my all time fave, Baraka - the first film I've seen that I believe should be prescribed to all.
Hardly watch TV but recently enjoyed watching a British show called The Office, which is funniest shit I've ever seen, save for Monty Python's Flying Circus that my stylish buddy Wil got me into. Man, those guys we're doing some substances!
Big into books, being an aspiring writer myself. Really into the Russians, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. The Dune chronicles are amazing works of politicized sci-fi. Really admire Salman Rushdie and got the rare chance to see him speak in my hometown, Toronto, years back which was a highlight of my life. Also, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez because he blends the mystical and the physical so well; a true indication of genius. So many books have touched me. On the top of the list are: Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, and any of Tagore's poetry. Dig reading philosophy big time; Nietszche thank you for your violent deconstructions - you helped me overcome the Christian precipice. Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling. The Gnostic teachings of Samael Aun Weor fuel my own personal life philosophy. The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus is the best Christian text out there. The Bhagavad Gita/Sri Auribindo/Osho/Emerson/Joseph Cambell/Castaneda...all have tremendously impacted me. Nonfiction is also a great source for inspiration.
Gandhi is near the paramount. His life is suffuse with such bravery and a simplistic humanist philosophy so profound that most still do not comprehend it. The Dalai Lama's compassion in the face of some of the most terrible oppression is emboldening (had a chance to meet the man at a private dinner before I left for China but couldn't change my flight! All things aren't meant to be...painful). John Lennon/Martin Luther King/Ani Difranco/Tori Amos/Thom Yorke/Rachel Corrie/Michael Franti/Jesus/Buddha/Mohammad/the Archangels/and too many to count...especially all my friends who have taught me more than any historical figure could.