Love to ride my bikes, hang and laugh with friends, fish, fly kites, water & snow ski. Cats & dogs rule. I simply do not understand why people want to keep fish & birds (they're kind of hard to pet and play with, right?). Then again, fish are pretty easy to train to play "dead."
Living: George Carlin, Mel Brooks, Jim Lovell, Tom Hanks, Walter Cronkite, Dick Winters (Maj., USA ret. - yeah - he's the "Band of Brothers" guy) Willie Nelson, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Nick Di Paolo, Louis Black, Tom Leykis, Bill Maher, Kevin Smith, Matt Parker, Trey Henry, Norm Abram, Morgan Freeman. George, Nick, Louis, Tom & Bill are heroes in that they are not afraid to speak truths and do not worry about public opinion or the thing that will truly destroy humanity - "political correctness" - which is nothing more than a free license for people hide behind ambiguity, to lie, and not to reveal their true feelings.Dead: Johnny Carson, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Sam Kinison, Bob Hope, Harpo Marx, Phil Hartman, Will Rogers, Rodney Dangerfield. Richard Jeni - you left too soon. And John Belushi, just to ask him "WTF were you thinking?? You had it all, but nnoooooooooo....."
Live music is the only way to fly. I love to go hear bands, especially when I know someone in the group, and not just because they can usually get me on the Guest List - I'm a great guy to have in an audience. As far as CD's - this may come as a surprise, but because I play music for a living, I hardly ever listen to music on the radio or CD's. Kind of gives my ears a break. When I do listen, I like heavy metal, jazz, good classical (stuff with balls in it), country. Mostly I listen to talk or news radio. Tom Leykis and Nick Di Paolo rules the radio airwaves.
Shawshank Redemption, Big, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, South Park, Braveheart, Payback, In & Out (because of the great line "FUCK BARBRA STREISAND!!"), For Love of the Game, Silence of the Lambs, Forest Gump, Silverado, Monsters, Inc., The Man with One Red Shoe, LA Story, Mask (Director's Cut), A League of Their Own, Sling Blade. I've been a musician in the following movies: "Flintstones - Viva Rock Vegas," "Red Dragon," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"
2 1/2 Men, Heroes, Veronica Mars, West Wing, Firefly, South Park, Family Guy, Who's Line Is It Anyway (BBC version), My Name is Earl, The Simpsons, Taxi, WKRP in Cincinnati, Survivor (I'd LOVE to see how all the challenges and Tribal Council sets are built and the crew / production camp). I've been a musician in episodes of "The West Wing" and "E.R." I've peformed in guest bands on Leno, Conan, Ellen, Wayne Brady, Good Morning America, CBS Saturday Morning News and Soul Train. And yeah -"American Idol"? Simon is right. Learn to live with it. He may be brusque, but he's RIGHT!
Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein), anything by Stephen Ambrose, Harpo Speaks (Harpo Marx), Gracie (George Burns), Lou's on First (Chris Costello), Sunday Nights at Seven (Joan Benny), Adriana Trigiani novels......and not just because I lived in Big Stone Gap for 2 years - they're really wonderful stories.
Anyone who does a truly heroic act, whether it be big or small. Most truly heroic acts go by unnoticed and unrecognized. I think that "Band of Brothers" should be required reading (the book) and viewing (video) for EVERY high school sophomore history class in the country. And if you can't read & watch it without crying and realizing what true "sacrifice" is, you don't graduate.