Film, jazz, r&b, rockabilly music; architecture; street fairs; travel; history and archaeology; the Maya; bizarre installations; the patterns of cracks in the pavement; high quality chocolates; drive-ins; art in a box; dry roasted peanuts; winery tours; photography; conversation; glass slides; invisible tape; world affairs; the Inca; Easter Island; evolution; rhapsodic moments in the rain; occasional transcendence
People interested in the world
My music collection is rather varied, with lots of rock, r&b, jazz, world, folk, reggae. Some favorite artists are The Pogues, Fela Kuti, Ali Farka Toure, Manu Chao, Mano Negra, Radiohead, Mal Waldron, Velvet Underground, Jackie McLean, Sun Ra, Nels Cline, Dave Douglas, Monk, Mingus, Miles, John Coltrane, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Woody Shaw, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, David Bowie, James Brown, Willie Colon, Cachao, Patti Smith, MC5, Wynonie Harris, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dock Boggs, Orchestra Baobab, Dengue Fever, The Kinks, Elmore James, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Tom Waits, the Waterboys, Boiled in Lead, The Fall, Funkadelic, PJ Harvey, The Flaming Lips, Calexico, Can, Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, Gilberto Gil, Stan Getz, Steve Lacy, Lee Morgan, the ICP Orchestra, Willem Breuker Kollektief, Brotherhood of Breath, Bessie Smith, Richard Thompson, Los Lobos, Jimi Hendrix, X, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Le Tigre. And a lot of jump blues acts.
I run Los Angeles Filmforum, and am a fan of experimental and avant-garde films, video art, and documentaries. Filmmakers such as Bill Brown, Stan Brakhage, Hollis Frampton, Maya Deren, Peter Tscherkassky, Gerald Holthius, Joris Ivens, Peter Hutton, Ernie Gehr, Naomi Uman, Greta Snider, Melinda Stone, Sadie Benning, James Benning, Michael Snow, Morgan Fisher, Thom Andersen, Chick Strand, Bruce Baillie, Rebecca Baron, Juan Carlos Rulfo, Barbara Hammer, Jennifer Reeves, Martha Colburn, Jem Cohen, Deborah Stratman, Tony Conrad, Su Friedrich, Abigail Child, Pat O'Neill, David LeBrun, Amy Halprin, Bill Morrison, Mark Street, Jonas Mekas, Peter Sempel, Jules Engel, Shirley Clarke, Wendy Clarke.But I like all sorts of films. Some of my favorite feature films are Persona; Amelie; Lawrence of Arabia; Three Colors: Red; Delicatessen; Nashville; Three Women; Trouble in paradise; The Palm Beach Story; the Philadelphia Story; The Apu Trilogy; The Rules of the Game; Leolo; Airplane; Fast Times at Ridgemont High; Horoshima, Mon Amour; Brazil; Knife in the Water; Capote.
I don't really ever watch TV, although I make documentaries for TV, particularly The History Channel, A&E. There are some good shows on the History Channel, and occasionally I watch things on IFC, Sundance, and HBO.
Right now I'm in the midst of reading a lot of books about Abraham Lincoln for a project. And books on the history of TV for another project. And books on Eadweard Muybridge for another project. and books on the history of Los Angeles for another, and books on the history of Mexico for another. And a book on jazz by Larry Kart for pleasure.
none right now