there's a time and a place for all types. please excuse any repeats from my friends list, but the odds are they are worth re-mentioning. that being said, to name a few: john butler trio, jeff lang, robert johnson, chris thile, dizzy, bird, miles, csny, old crow medicine show, bob dylan, ben harper, johnny cash, wilson pickett, the replacements, sam cooke, boingo, richie havens, mos def, talib kweli, tool, otis redding, robert bradley's blackwater surprise, sister hazel, bill withers, fat freddie's drop, yamn, the untitled adrian smith project, bohemian chic, and damn near anything else that comes my way that gives me that certain happiness that comes from good music.
rosencrantz & guildenstern are dead, butch & sundance, monty python, evil dead, big night, anything tim burton, coen brothers or terry gilliam, lord of the rings trilogy, once upon a time in the west, waking ned devine, and everything else.
burn your tv in your yard. gather round it with your friends. warm your hands up on the fire, and start again.
not a simple question. hesse, eco, abbey, rushdie, nabokov, matthieson, solzhenitsyn, mann, kafka, bodio, tolkien, dostoevsky, harrison, joyce, chatwin, wilde, twain, edward o. wilson, bill watterson, goethe, pynchon, douglas adams, etc. etc. etc.