Music (creating, listening, participating, dancing, whatever), film, books, entertainment, skiing, sand volleyball, video games (although I hardly get a chance to play my Xbox anymore), multi-cultural topics, foreign languages (Spanish and French particularly), travel, good food, good friends, good fun, and learning about stuff to which I've never been exposed
The woman of my dreams; music directors of video game companies and film companies; one day, the rest of the Proper Authorities; Robert Rodriguez and similar DIY (or better stated, DIAY) filmmakers; a list of musicians so long and varied that I am guaranteed to meet at least one of them in my lifetime; and maybe the person that dispenses lottery money to the winning ticketholder, since that would mean that I won. I'll think of more folks I'd like to meet later.
And speaking of DIY filmmaking, check out this video!
The Proper Authorities - The Ninth Life JittersProbably the toughest question for me this side of a last request. The stuff I'm listening to now (Oct 2006) is 30 Seconds to Mars, Eagles of Death Metal, The Mars Volta, Incubus, Muse, Coldplay, D'Angelo, The Mission UK, Broken Social Scene... and my alarm clock is still set to a classical station. I can guarantee that I am leaving out 99% of what should be included, but that's what happens when you ask a musician.
OK... the second toughest question to ask. I love movies, and the farther their subject matter from my own status quo the better. I can admit that most visual media is really just a publically acceptable form of voyeurism, so I like character-driven stories a lot. If they take place in far away (or even imaginary) lands, I like it even better. As a guy, I have to admit a leaning towards action/adventure stuff, and a good asskicking here and there tends to amp up my enjoyment of even the dumbest flicks. Plus, I know a lot about CGI and digital effects, so it's like homework to me to see a sci-fi shoot-'em-up. But as long as I know what I'm in for, I can enjoy any kind of flick... chick flicks included.
Lost, 24, House, Mythbusters, Alias, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Boondocks, Heroes, Criss Angel: Mindfreak, Chappelle's Show, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Nip/Tuck, Deadwood, Dexter, Eureka, Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed, X-Play, Attack of the Show
Fiction is my fancy, although I've been known to dally in reality every now and then. Truths can have more weight when one has to look for them; that's the fun in fiction. Some of my favorite authors: Arthur C. Clarke (the Rama series is amazing), Robert Heinlein (a dialogue lord), Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Crichton, Dan Brown, J. K. Rowling, Robert Jordan, Philip Pullman, Dean Koontz, Terry Goodkind, Tom Clancy, and many others. I also grew up on comic books, which taught me how to follow soap opera storylines and how to make up magnipitudinously large words.
My parents, without question. My family is pretty cool in general, but I think about where my folks came from, and what they had to do to position themselves to succeed and to help their kids succeed as well.