MUSIC (love, Love, LOVE it! And, apparently, I define my life by it).
Soccer (VIVA ITALIA!)
Surfing (Longboarder at
Snowboarding (Mountain Hiiiiiigh, right Shmeegan?)
Skateboarding (Hanger 18, Holla! Haha.)
Sailing (Sabots, LASERS, FJ's, 420'S, Lamens, Snipes...)
*RUGBY* (SATURDAY'S A RUGBY DAY!)
(The *Haka* before *HSU* destroyed Western Washington. Oh, and YEAH that IS my *Jakey* leading it all!)
Languages (hablo espanol, parlo un poccolo italiano, et je parle un petit francais, bien que je comprends plus...).
Having a good time....
(Ruggers at *Toby & Jacks* singing the Beer Anthem)
History (Bob's right, yo).
Culture (Parras 2007, bitches!!!).
People ("I'm a lover not a hater.").
Cooking (Hate her all you want, but you KNOW Rachael Ray is MONEY!).
Road trips...
My puppy...
(Yes, he IS a bassett hound, and, yes, he IS cooler than your dog. Deal with it.)
Being random (obviously...)
Yeah, I dunno...
CARMEN ELECTRA, Maynard James Keenan, Queen Elizabeth I, SHEPPARD FERRY, Vivien Leigh, Mark Wahlberg, BETTIE PAGE, John Wayne, Beth Gibbons and Portishead, LAIRD HAMILTON, Veronica Lake, Adam Sandler, MARY MAGDALENE, Incubus, Shanna Moakler, THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, Marilyn Monroe, Pele, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTTS, Gene Wilder, Rachael Ray, JOHN STEINBECK, June Carter Cash, Gavin Beschen, ISABEL DE CASTILLA, Dane Cook, Margaret Thatcher, PABLO FRANCISCO, Cleopatra, Jeremy Piven, VIOLETA PARRA, Johnny Cash, Madeline Kahn, DENNIS LEARY, Shannon MacMillan, The Deftones, THE MIRABEL SISTERS, Paulo Coelho, Olivia de Berardinis, JOHN FAVRAEU, Sally Fields, The Beastie Boys, AYAAN HIRSI ALI, Jack Johnson, Kate Hudson, GEORGE LOPEZ, Kat Von D, the members of Broken Lizard, and *The Friends*
CHILL MUSIC (You'll know it when you hear it...feel it...)
Mostly rock--from classic to modern, grunge to emo...you know, basically anything rock could encompass...
(*Incubus* live at *Soma in San Diego, CA.* The song (in case you couldn't tell...) is Megalomaniac.)
I love good triphop (Note: Beth Gibbons appears under my "Who I'd like to meet" section)...I can also dig some hiphop, and I've finally developed an appreciation for Dance Hall and Reggae, but it's still in it's infancy...I'm working on it (DeMaria help me out with that, would you? Take me on your next random Music Fest road trip!)...
(*Pepper* live at the Float the Boat Festival on the *Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.* Sorry about the sound quality, but they were playing B.O.O.T. and the bass was too much for my lil camera to handle. I was more interested in capturing how insane the venue was...try turning down the volume...)
I've also really just started getting into the international scene and movements like La Nueva Cancion Chilena and other "prostest" music. Violeta, Angel, and Isabel Parra, Schwenke y Nilo, Quilapayun, Mercedes Sosa, Victor Jara, Inti-Illimani, and many more. Incredibly inspiring. Take a listen--try "Gracias a la vida" by Violeta Parra...
Oh and some country (yeah, yeah...what can I say...it happens...)...
If you need details, I guess you'd better ask...
"Bourgeois society wants art to be another factor contributing to social alienation; we artists should transform it into a revolutionary weapon, until the contradiction that actually exists between art and society is finally surpassed."
~An excerpt from the statement made by Quilapayun that accompanied their 1969 album entitled "Basta."
Empire Records, Gone With the Wind, Shakespeare in Love, The Goonies, Love and Sex, The Quiet Man, Napolean Dynamite, Wedding Crashers, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, The Big Lebowski, Almost Famous, When Harry Met Sally, Some Like It Hot, Super Troopers, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Top Gun, Run Ronnie Run, The Constant Gardener, Joe Versus the Volcano, and Classic Adam Sandler, John Cusack, and Kevin Smith flicks to start...
I had an extended vacation from television this summer that was actually rather nice...then we came back to Humboldt and Jacob got Satellite.
Nip/Tuck, CSI: Las Vegas (alright, alright...and Miami--but ONLY if I'm desperate...I just don't like Horatio--sorry, sorry, "H." Whatever.), Family Guy, The Daily Show, 30 Minute Meals, Chargers games, Miami Ink, Friends re-runs, The Colbert Report, The Everyday Italian, The Chapelle Show on DVD, The Shield, most things on Discovery and Discovery Health Channels, Sex and the City re-runs, Rescue Me, Entourage, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Henry Rollins Show, Viva La Bam, Real Time with Bill Maher, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Iron Chef, The Sopranos, Dirty Jobs...
Pablo Francisco's standup is still hilarious. Discover it.
ANYTHING by John Steinbeck--especially East Of Eden.
I have also really liked what I've read by Barbara Kingsolver, including The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, The Poisonwood Bible, and The Prodigal Summer.
Paulo Coelho is absolutely amazing. Read Eleven Minutes and The Alchemist. I think I'm going for Veronika Decides to Die next...(Thanks Katie Cadet! Ok, ok...and Nick. Thanks Nick.).
Oh, and I definitely can't forget Amy Tan. Love her. The Joy Luck Club--enough said.
I also really love Pablo Neruda, Nicanor Parra, Robert Frost, Edgar Allen Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and other great poets.
I'm into the Sophie Kinsella Shopaholic books (haha, I know...I HATE shopping) and Lauren Weisberger novels (The Devil Wears Prada (I read that 4 years ago--WAY before there was any plan for a movie...typical!) and Everyone Worth Knowing) and I must admit that I've gotten caught up in the whole Harry Potter phenomenon (Hey, don't knock it till you try it. You'll get hooked, too.).
Others include: Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson, The Hidding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Complete Works of Shakespeare by, well, William Shakespeare, In The Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast, and The Rum Diary by none other than Hunter S. Thompson (Thanks, Julie! I'm bringing it back tomorrow, I swear!).
Anyway, they're all *FaBuLouS*! Read them.
The inventor of Pepsi.
Haha, ok, seriously...
My heros are people who have been able to figure out what life's really about, appreciate it, and then fight for it--regardless of what they may loose in the process--because they realize that what they--and the rest of the world--could gain from it is so much more valuable. These people understand that they are merely individuals among many, but they also have seen that not one person in this world goes unaffected by the actions of all the others and, therefore, everyone--every single person--is capable of making a difference. Though it's often hard to see them, if you look more closely at the world around you, you'll find that these people are every where, fighting everyday for a better future; some are famous, and some lead "average" lives; some are conventional and some are anything but; some are young with wisdom beyond their years and some have been around a while, gaining experience and momentum that can do nothing but help their fight. Whoever they are, whatever walk of life they're from, whichever ethnicity and nationality they claim, these people inspire me beyond words.