tiki, stockton islander, midcentury polynesian restaurants and bars in california and nevada, art deco, 1940s fashion, streamline moderne, modern architecture, eichler homes, dive bars, art of the cocktail, vintage diners, blaxploitation movies, road trips, violin, fiddling, ukelele, hapa haole songs, fez, secret fraternal societies such as the scottish rite (i used to work there!), easter island (rapa nui), cultures of the south pacific, vintage european advertisements (mainly from the 40's through the 60's), lounge culture, learning foreign languages, shuffle board, corned beef, guinness beer, anything served flaming, purses, shoes, and neurology.
jim kelly, tom jones, conan, jack costanzo, and mister tarantino-- but i dont think i could handle his hyperactivity, it would probably end ugly.
you know, i have always kicked around the theory of the perfectly made song. i solely believe that the ingredients for this would involve a catchy rhythm involving congas or bongos, lots of reverb, whip cracks, and element of heavy breathing, and demanding bass rhythms, while singing about a nonsensical topic. let me know if this song exists already. as for artists, i tend to listen to martin denny, lex baxter, arthur lyman, freddie tavares, ernie tavares, luke leilani, alfred apaka, the maikai gents, ape, project pimento, the saddle tramps, red elvises, the toy dolls, Iz, jack costanzo, dean martin, julie london, peggy lee, bobby darin, louis prima, mose allison, billie holiday, ella fitzgerald, john coltrane, beatles, elvis, ricky nelson, i have a strange crush on roy orbison, johnny cash, southern culture on the skids, nirvana, foo fighters, u2, 90's alternative modern rock, oldies, old country, '80s punk, old timey, rockabilly, lounge, exotica, hapa haole, bongos, cubano beats, and james brown!
blaxploitation, truck turner, black belt jones, any pam grier film, hitchcock, rear window, vertigo, dr. strangelove, run lola run, reservoir dogs, pulp fiction, kill bill, ruthless people, delicatessan, moonstruck, shawshank redemption, dark city, memento, army of darkness, swingers, so i married an axe murderer, some like it hot, a fish called wanda, the big lebowski.
pbs, arrested development, survivor, the amazing race, lost, csi las vegas, seinfeld, lawrence welk, scooby-doo (the old ones!), hawaiian eye, mad TV.however, might i add that i recently came across the digital hdtv station "the tube" and i am completely addicted to it. it is a constant stream of music videos and live concert footage of bands from the 60s to now. my current video pick? the rolling stones "it's only rock and roll (but i like it)". if you saw the video, you would understand.
i enjoy the occasional popular fictional read, but i am drawn more to autobiographical accounts and nerdy science books about neurology and development. and i'll admit that i have a soft spot in my heart for overly large coffee table books about my interests (art deco, tiki, blaxploitation, etc)
hong kong phooey.