new literature, culture jamming, my toy 4-lens lomographic 'action sampler' [it's a kids camera for fucks sake!], drinking coffee at cafe younis in hamra [west beirut lebanon] (since 1935 - big ups to Amin for the personal mug!), capoeira [viva sobreviventes], vinyl, producers [r.i.p. jay dilla], composers and arrangers [d. axelrod!], tai chi (chen style), poets, mc's, dj's, eating with chopsticks, local wines, vinyasa flow, tailor-made shirts (using my designs at Baroudy's in Hamra), .03mm pens., .5mm mechanical pencils with those cool little erasers, stencil art (big ups to Banksy), listening: radio documentary, radio drama, radio news --- addidas (stan smiths and turtle shell fronts), moleskin notebooks, middleweight boxing, traveling to places without internet, collecting small format paintings by guys like Rich Jacobs, violin (the Michael White kind), ending occupation of all kinds (including mental), studying Arabic, macs and being i-synced, sensuous kisses and the moment before those kisses take place
Folks who can alter the selling of snake-oil and the sneaky fuckers who peddle the shit, i.e. politics and politicians.
IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER! nina simone, common, horace tapscott, umm kulthum, tribe, sun ra, blondie, dwight trible, 4hero, masta ace, baden powell, rakim, jill scott, LL cool j, the rapture, 3loosh, kraftwerk, john coltrane, run DMC, john tejada, stereolab, gang of four, ella fitzgerald, the life force trio, grandmaster flash, peter tosh, gift of gab, black star, lyrics born, bola set, bjork, linton kwesi johnson, divine styler, cockni o'dire, medusa, miles davis, krs one, david axelrod, fela ransome kuti, tlahnoun gèssèssè, fairuz, bruce grant aka Huge Voodoo!, billy holiday, bob marley, prefuse73, the white stripes, eugene mcdaniels, gary bartz, terry callier, derf reklaw, sharon jones and the dap kings, lester young, ali farke toure, nusrat fateh ali khan, abstract, serge gainsbourg, tortoise, beethoven, pharoah sanders, van morrison, mcCoy tyner, leon thomas, joe henderson, house of pain, manu chao, orchestra baobab, the congas, cymande, saul williams, sa ra, platinum pied pipers, das fx, damon aaron, blk sonshine, prince paul, radiohead, nas, mr. lif, antibalas, minnie riperton, curtis mayfield, Jay Z, bob dylan, michael white, michael jackson, eric satie, nobody, mf doom, antonio carlos jobim, RZA, jorge ben, pete rock and cl smooth, bebel gilberto, astrud gilberto, coldplay, david byrne, nas, blackalicious, Jay Dee [RIP], freestyle fellowship, rachid taha, suba (RIP), zuco 103, system of a down, tom ze, the lounge lizards,mai doi todd, Sabrina Malheiros, PJ Harvey, james brown, tony scott, andrew bird, gomez, souls of mischief, tears for fears, jungle brothers, barry white, marvin gaye, jimmy lee williams, edgar 'jones' jones, claude de bussy, dolly parton, johnny cash, money waters, the clash, arrested development, das fx, freestyle fellowship, led zeppelin, the beatles, queen latifah, tri-eight label, circulations label, lee morgan, mozart, gabor szabo, the police, AC/DC, Run DMC, chamilionaire, black sheep, bavu blakes, breakestra, kellis, cinematic orchestra, carl cox, plasticman, plug researches whole friggin' catalogue, thrill jockey label, great batucata, live samba, all good soul and classic house, soca, minimal electro etc
vengo [all t. gaitlif movies actually], motorcycle diaries, bladerunner, the party, straight story, oceans twelve, ghost dog, amelie, hana bi, los olvidados, la jete, the pink panther, belly, malcolm x, la belle noiseuse, alphaville, royal tenenbaums, dr. strangelove, lost in translation, yojimbo, city of god, amelie, l'aventura, zatoichi, last picture show, kill bill(s), chinatown, latcho drom, gadjo dillo, vengo, exils, wedding story, faust, drunken master 2, badlands, fog of war, la haine, bottlerocket, dersou ouzala, i am cuba, outlaw josie wales, paris texas,my dinner with andre, ran, pale rider, three kings, life aquatic, midnight cowboy, full metal jacket, mystery train, bullit, divine intervention, broken flowers, the warriors, paradise now, marie of the bay of angels, battle of algiers, etc.
grandfather (garabed melik keramian), mom, dad, ariel dorfman, malcolm x, geronimo pratt, brian jackson, horace tapscott, david axelrod, ernesto che guevara, kathleen cleaver, Amir Ali Ibn Yehia...