I'd like to meet:
The people pictured down below. I have never met a single one of them in my life! Who are these people!?
Music:
Immortal classics like the Beatles, Doors, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, etc. Also, the punk and funk-filled fusion powered hits from the 70's: from the Clash's punk to the reigning Royals of Disco to the mellow rockers & rollers, baby! Course my formative upbringing in the eclectic 80's makes me mellow for the Smiths, Cure, Depeche Mode, New Order, Oingo Boingo, Psychedelic Furs etc. And when I'm feeling homesick (even though I was born in Los Angeles!), some classic mariachi tunes from the Old Country! 50's Doo Wop is like menudo to my soul, and indie bands do it with more heart and soul than one can imagine!
Check out my stacks of CDs and you'll find everyone from Grace Jones to Tom Jones, Art of Noise to Three Dog Night!!I recently bought the new Los Lonely Boys album from iTunes!I'm a sucker for film scores: John Barry's Bond scores rock my world. Mancini's Pink Panther music takes me back to La La Land...... Also, Toho's various giant monster soundtracks are always good for meditating... And the King of Scores would have to be Ennio Morricone, he of Spaghetti Western fame.
Movies:
The original Japanese-language Godzilla. King Kong, the Phantom of the Opera (silent version), the Producers, the Good,the Bad and the Ugly, Godfather Pt. 1 and 2, James Bond movies, Pink Panther flicks, Ed Wood (the film and the director!), Tim Burton movies (Big Fish, Sleepy Hollow, Beetlejuice etc.), Clint Eastwood films (Unforgiven, Heartbreak Ridge, Dirty Harry etc.), Robert Rodriquez flicks, American Splendor, Spider-Man, Superman 1 & 2, Mexican wrestling films, Halloween, Dr. Strangelove, etc.Other great movies come to mind: Cinema Paradiso, Universal and Hammer horror films (yeah Christopher Lee!), the Crow, Race with the Devil, Ghost World, Lost in Translation, Duel, Resevoir Dogs, Untouchables, the Iron Giant, Chasing Amy, Mad Monster Party and the list goes on and on.....Let me go out on a limb and say.... EL MUERTO!!!
Television:
Speed Racer, Giant Robot, the Addams Family, the Incredible Hulk, the Six Million Dollar Man, All in the Family, Hawaii 5-0, the Electric Company, Benny Hill, That 70's Show, Looney Tunes, the Three Stooges, Spider-Man (1967), Carol Burnett Show, Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, Twilight Zone, H. R. Puffenstuff, Barney Miller, Batman (Adam West), Get Smart, Batman the Animated Series, The Gong Show, Match Game,Barney Miller, Gumby, Felix the Cat, Huell Howser (PBS), etc.
Books:
Comic books: Marvel Comics from the 1960's Silver Age: sheer paradise! Stuff like Stan Lee/Steve Ditko AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and DR. STRANGE, Lee/Jack Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN ,AVENGERS, etc. Lee/Gene Colan DAREDEVIL,CAPTAIN AMEREICA, IRON-MAN. And let's not forget the avalanche of goodness from 1970's Marvel: Devil Dinosaur, Machine Man, Power-Man, Man-Thing, Howard the Duck, Master of Kung Fu, the Son of Satan, Iron Fist, the Human Fly, ROM, Nova, etc.Steve Ditko's self-published work, anything by Jack Kirby. Self-published comic books like Rafael Navarro's Sonambulo, Rhode Montijo's Pablo's Inferno, Bernyce Talley's Le Menagerie, Sam Hiti's Tiempos Finales, Ted Seko's zines and comix, Michael Aushenker's El Gato Crime Mangler, Jason Martin's Super Real. Harvey Pekar's autobiographic American Splendor stories are delightful and Will Eisner's work is essential!!Books: biographies on various comic book creators, Paolo Kahlo's The Alchemist, Dr. Seuss, Ian Fleming's James Bond thrillers, books on Mexican mythology and folklore, Joseph Grivone, comic strip collections by Gary (FAR SIDE) Larson and Lalo (LA CUCARACHA) Alcarez, Fred Zmuda's biography of Andie Kaufman, Jesse Ventura's "I ain't got time to bleed", Robert Rodriquez's 'Rebel without a crew', etc.
Heroes:
Former wrestler/Governor Jesse 'the Body' Ventura for clotheslining the know-it-alls and shocking the world; Clint Eastwood for his unflinching resolve in shaping his career on his terms; Ed Wood for wholeheartedly making his films despite such minor annoyances as lack of talent,money and time; Jack Kirby for unleashing his creative imagination and generously spending time with his fans ; Steve Ditko for his singular steadfastedness in sticking to his guns and Mom and Dad for their unlimited belief and patience!
