Reading, movies, and my family. I am passionate about politics and spirituality/philosophy, but if you want to know my views on either, either sit down with me for a week or let me write you a couple of different thousand page books... life is not simple and does not admit of simple explanations.
I'd like to meet:
Gary Oldman, Jesus, and Roger Waters. Also, my wife has given me permission to seduce Natalie Portman or Keira Knightley as long as I steal half their money, so girls, if you're listening, I'm available...View All Friends | View Blog | Add Comment
Music:
Everything. When most people say that, they mean "Everything but (insert genre)". Not me. If it is good, I will listen to it, whether it be bluegrass, hip hop, or Buddhist flute music. I also don't identify myself by music association... i.e. I don't consider myself emo or gangsta or a hippie or anything else because of music.
That having been said, my favorite genre is classic rock, followed by probably 80s hip hop, and my favorite bands/artists are Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Black Eyed Peas (yes, I know they're commercial, yes I know "My Humps" sucked, deal with it), Mos Def, The Doors, The Roots, Guns n Roses, and probably a million more that I forgot.
Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Wolfmother, Jay-Z, Coldplay, and Radiohead.
Movies:
I am such a huge movie buff it's hard to know what to write in this section... most people seem to think that this is a spot to list their twenty favorite movies, but I don't see why anyone would care. Instead I'll tell you what I like about movies, and what I think makes a movie good.
Good movies come down to three things... good scripts, good acting, and good directing. Unfortunately, what SELLS movies are attractive stars and explosions.
My favorite actor is Gary Oldman (check him out on IMDB if you've never heard of him, you have seen him in at least ten movies but you probably don't realize it's the same guy, he's THAT good.) Other great male actors include people like Daniel Day Lewis, Jim Carrey, Kevin Spacey, and even some more famous chaps like Pitt and DiCaprio. Hugh Grant is awful. My favorite female actress is probably Kathy Bates... other wonderful actresses include Glenn Close, Kate Winslet, Annette Benning, and of course Hillary Sawnk. If I ever have to watch Julia Roberts in a film again, I will cut my eyes out.
For an example of a brilliant scriptwriter, check out Charlie Kaufmann.
Good directing is pretty subjective. I think what it comes down to is being able to transport the viewer of the movie so completely into your vision that they forget who they are and have to pause to remember when the movie is over. Some great examples of movies that accomplished this are Amadeus, Fight Club, The Shawshank Redemption, American History X, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Pulp Fiction, and Children of Men.
Television:
I rarely watch much on television besides sports and the occasional HBO series like Rome, which was unfortunately canceled. There's too much going on in life to have hours of your life sucked away by things like Everybody Loves Raymond.
I do watch Adult Swim sometimes when I'm on my way to bed, especially Robot Chicken.
Books:
I read quite a bit. My favorite genre is Fantasy. If you like Fantasy, you *must* check out A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. It is the best fantasy saga I have ever read, and for those of you who don't have the patience, it's coming out in 2008 on HBO as a *seven season show*. If that doesn't tell you how good it is, I don't know what will.
Heroes:
My parents. Yeah, it's trite, but they actually deserve it. I watched my father rebuild his life and provide for his children better than most men ever do in a very short time after a series of disasters so complete that weaker men might have committed suicide. My mother has spent the balance of her life dedicated to making this world a better place... she's currently the VP of a non-profit that helps various other non-profits that have similar interests get strategically coordinated and send messages of solidarity to the Hill.
I also cannot express how much my wife amazes me every day, without her my children would starve and I would probably be wandering through downtown Raleigh in dirty underwear asking people what day it was.
