Music, art, jewelry/gemstone design, photography, cinema, literature, travel, gardening, British humor, fractals, astronomy, philosophy, single malt scotch, Belgian beer, really good coffee...
I'm here to hang out with my friends and possibly make new ones. If you're a diehard music fan (rock, metal, industrial, gothic, electronic, new wave, old skool punk, stoner rock, blues, deathrock, psychobilly, etc) or you're into the arts (jewelry design, lapidary arts, photography, illustrators/graphic novels/poster art, drawing, painting, etc), film, and/or literature, then by all means let's converse! I tend to hang out with intelligent, open-minded people who are not judgemental in any way shape or form. I'm not trying to break the world record for most number of MySpace friends though, so please only add me if you actually want to exchange info, thoughts or ideas.
I will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite artists:
"The only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad!" - Salvador Dali
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
CLUTCH - ELEPHANT RIDERS
(Live video taken by me at the 5-12-2007 Philly show)
King's X and Clutch are by and far the most amazing bands in the known universe! I just felt like it needed to be said for the 100,000,000th time. Go buy all their albums, a ton of merch and see as many live shows as you possibly can. You'll thank me later.
A partial list of other faves: Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Fear Factory, Mindless Self Indulgence, Rush, The Bakerton Group, Kamchatka, Opeth, King Hobo, PJ Harvey, Jeff Buckley, Chris Whitley, System Of A Down, Warrior Soul, Kyuss, Unida, Hermano, Scissorfight, Orange Goblin, Nebula, Monster Magnet, Alabama Thunderpussy, Fireball Ministry, The Hellacopters, The Melvins, Plasmatics/Wendy O. Williams, Motorhead, Sex Pistols, Fugazi, Iggy & The Stooges, New York Dolls, Revolting Cocks, Rollins Band, Ramones, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Skinny Puppy, Kraftwerk, Joy Division, VNV Nation, Die Warzau, Switchblade Symphony, Rammstein, Gothminister, Qntal, Irfan, Lords Of Acid, Crystal Method, Ladytron, Chicks On Speed, Peaches, Atari Teenage Riot, Faith No More, Tomahawk, Pantera, Prong, Killing Joke, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Van Halen (with Diamond Dave OF COURSE), Black Sabbath, Dio, KISS, Rainbow, Triumph, Fastway, UFO, Blue Oyster Cult, Type O Negative, White Zombie, Coal Chamber, Stuck Mojo, S.O.D., Violent Femmes, Fishbone, Orange 9mm, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Public Image Limited, Tool, Chevelle, Lost Prophets, Disturbed, At The Drive-In, The White Stripes, Oingo Boingo, Human League, Devo, Blondie, David Bowie, Thomas Dolby, Weather Report, John Coltrane, Cab Calloway, Billie Holliday, Dave Brubeck, U2, Genesis, Asia, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Queen, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Heart, The Allman Brothers, Bill Withers, Brothers Johnson, Robin Trower, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, Stu Hamm, Chris Impeliterri, Steve Vai, Greg Howe, Billy Sheehan, Richie Kotzen, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Cop Shoot Cop, Bullet LaVolta, Sonic Youth, Public Enemy, DMX, The Breeders, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach...
2001: A Space Odyssey, Goodfellas, Casino, The Godfather trilogy, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill 1&2, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Leon The Professional, Ronin, Amadeus, Clerks, This Is Spinal Tap, Pi, Quills, Shadow Of The Vampire, Bram Stoker's Dracula, True Romance, Fight Club, The Boondock Saints, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Boogie Nights, Sid And Nancy, Velvet Goldmine, Trainspotting, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Faster Pussycat Kill Kill, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Ed Wood, Heat/Trash/Flesh (Warhol flicks), Liquid Sky, Fando Y Lis, Un Chien Andalou, Clockwork Orange, The Fifth Element, Star Wars, Star Trek (original cast), The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, The Thing, The Exorcist, Alien, Shaun Of The Dead, Napoleon Dynamite, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Caddyshack, Easy Money, all Cheech & Chong, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Austin Powers, etc. Plus I also LOVE old movies - All About Eve, Of Human Bondage, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, Grand Hotel, Dinner At Eight, The Women, Mildred Pierce, Sunset Boulevard, His Girl Friday, The Philadelphia Story, Breakfast At Tiffanys, Top Hat, 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933. Basically anything with Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire or anything directed by Busby Berkeley - he was the master of cinematography and the synchronized dance sequence... Once again, too many to list...
I don't have much time for tv (it's pretty much all crap anyway), but sometimes in the wee hours of the night it's the only way for me to relax and turn my brain off. HBO seems to have the only shows worth a damn. These days I'm digging The Sopranos, Sex In The City, Entourage, Rome, Deadwood and Real Time with Bill Maher. The Shield is awesome, and Law & Order is always good. Other than that, I might watch some older shows like Cheers, Taxi, The Odd Couple, or All In The Family. I do admit to being a complete BRITCOM maniac though: Monty Python, Black Adder, The Young Ones, Are You Being Served, Absolutely Fabulous, Father Ted are among my favorites.
Anything and everything by Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Stephen King, Michael Crichton (despite the fact he's a right-wing republican) and Dan Brown. Also Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, Wacky Chicks by Simon Doonan, The Dirt (Motley Crue biopic and undeniably the best rock n roll book EVER), Rotten: No Irish No Blacks No Dogs by John Lydon (another amazing rock n roll book), The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, The Talisman by Peter Straub, 2001/2010/2061/3001 by Arthur C. Clarke, Out of the Silent Planet/Perelandra/That Hideous Strength (Space trilogy) by C.S. Lewis, Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille, Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite...
Hmmmm... I don't know if I can say I have any heroes, just people I admire: Salvador Dali for being one of the few artists who could visualize his darkest dreams and translate them to canvas. Wendy O. Williams for being a smart and ballsy rock chick who always spoke her mind and didn't give a flying fuck what anyone thought of her.