Animal rights, politics, music, movies, tea
Meryl Streep
A scattershot assortment of the rock-a-billy, soul, and surf music that combined to become the most formative and dangerous rock and roll; Dead Prez, Beastie Boys, James Brown, Parliament, funk of all kinds, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Sun Ra, The Ramones, Misfits, Operation Ivy, Neil Young, Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits (that man got me through high school), Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Horton, Johnny Cash, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Hank III, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Bill Monroe, The Carter Family; anthologies of old time music containing all manner of blues, ballads, hymns, spirituals, work songs, breakdowns, shouts, reels, and waltzes recorded in churches, fields, and front porches.
Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, Harold and Maude, Sunrise (1927), Fargo, Annie Hall, Chinatown, The Graduate, Dr. Strangelove, Waiting for Guffman, Ruben and Ed.Last thing I saw worth recommending: Children of Men. It's terrific!
The Daily Show, the Colbert Report, West Wing, Big Love, and fuckin' Deadwood
There are nobler books out there, but the one that engendered the most visceral joy was Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72.