Music, prevailing over all else. Also art -I am personally a sculptor, painter, and photographer, and I am interested in the works of H.R. Giger (every so often I become convinced that he is a prophet), Damien Hirst, Man Ray, Gunter Brus, Vincent Van Gogh, Michael Manning, David Bowie, etc.-, movies, books, etc.
Most of them I either already know, or they're dead.
David Bowie, Nick Cave / & the Bad Seeds / Birthday Party / Grinderman, Joy Division, 16 Horsepower / Woven Hand / David Eugene Edwards, The Cure, REM, The Smiths, Woven Hand, The Misfits / Samhain / Danzig, Amy Winehouse, The Velvet Underground, PJ Harvey, Serge Gainsbourg, The Damned, The Clash, Dresden Dolls, Patti Smith, Pearl Jam, Mark Lanegan, Mad Season, Alice in Chains, The Residents, Low, The Libertines, (The London) Suede, The Automatic (Automatic), Michale Graves, Sisters of Mercy, etc.
David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock are my favorite directors, and I like just about anything either of them has done, especially Fire Walk With Me, Mullholland Drive, and The Elephant Man (Lynch), and Vertigo, Psycho, Rebecca, and The Birds (Hitchcock). Other movies I like include (in no particular order) Strange Days, Donnie Darko, The Cell, Monty Python's Meaning of Life, Gummo, 24 Hour Party People, Nosferatu, The Sixth Sense, Paradise Lost, The Fifth Element, The Village, Unbreakable... I'm sure I'll think of plenty more before too long.The movies I've made include:"The Eventide Clockworks," a two-minute black and white silent film that was in the Fargo film festival. It starred (in order of death) Emily Wheelwright, Tessa Breitbach (ViF drummer), and Char Rogers, along with Jason Bursack (my brother), who kills them."Satanic Panic!" has never been finished aside from a 12 minute edit that was little more than a trailer. It's a hallucinogenic 45+ minutes of gore, drugs, and the occult splattered across the local rock scene. It had music and appearances by members of quite a few local bands. "Satanic Panic!" starred Jolene Roderick, Jason Bursack, Charles Rogers, Meghan Vaughn, Corey Cook (ViF guitarist), and myself, along with plenty of others in small parts. Venus in Furs have a cameo in the movie, as Corey's character's band, playing the Misfits' "She" in a party scene.
It bugs me when people have 8,000 movies listed in profiles and then put "TV is EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" because hating TV is one of those rare hipster-isms that never goes out of style. 95% of TV is crap just like 95% of everything, but when people who go to every new Jerry Bruckheimer movie on opening day boast that "I don't even OWN a TV!" or whatever and think that makes them intellectual... yeah. So that said... as for shows that aren't on anymore... Millennium was a great show, so of course it disappeared quickly. The original British versions of Touching Evil and Cracker were excellent (the American remake of Touching Evil was actually okay, though it paled against the original... I heard there was a bad Cracker remake made but I've never seen it). If you're familiar with any of those, you know I'm into pretty dark stuff. Along those lines, I made my David Lynch obsession clear in the "Movies" part, so Twin Peaks is no surprise here... the considerably less-known "On the Air" (a comedy, surprisingly) was also quite good. And Monty Python's Flying Circus was probably the funniest show ever. As for current stuff... Lost is a good show, not a whole lot else in the "mysterious" vein since the X-Files days. I really like Arrested Development, maybe the best TV comedy since Seinfeld... speaking of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm definately has its moments, though it misses at least as often as it hits. Starved is new, but so far I think it's great... supposedly a comedy, but it's more disturbing than just about any dramas out there right now. I'm going to get crucified for saying this, but I think The Simpsons is overrated. Not bad, mind you, hilarious sometimes, I could just never get into it like some people do. I think Family Guy is the best cartoon on right now... it's got about as much subtlety as the Three Stooges, but that's the whole point.
I know I'm forgeting plenty, but among them : "The Hunger Bone" by Debra Marquart (especially my signed copy)... besides writing amazing fiction and poetry, Debra is also a great singer (I've seen her perform live) not to mention hotter than anyone her age has any right to be... none of her bands' CD's are in wide release, alas. In the same vein, though it's not quite an all-time favorite, I also have a signed copy of the excellent "Fargo Rock City" by Chuck Klosterman... nyeah nyeah nyeah. Also: "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner, "Wise Blood" by Flannery O'Connor, "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck, "From Hell" by Alan Moore/Eddie Campbell. And of course "Minding Our Elders" by Carol Bradley Bursack (my mom)... I'm not really in the target audience for that, but I know she'd say "Nitemaremuzik" is one of her favorite albums (plus, I have a cameo appearance of sorts in the book). And we can never forget Curious George.
My mom, both because she's my mom and because of her inspiring (and continuing) writing career. David Lynch, maybe the greatest filmmaker ever and somebody who seems to think on exactly the same wavelength as me. Nick Cave, who has been successful as a singer, songwriter, novelist, poet, screenwriter, and actor... basically, I want his career. Arica Carfagno and Corey Dell... friends and musicians who are braver than I'll ever be (stay safe, Arica... if you knew how often you were on my mind it would scare you). Alyssa Tobola... no one famous, semi-famous, fictional, or a close friend or relative like the rest of these people/apes, just someone who stood up for me once in school when no one else did and left a profound and permanent impression. Steve Albini... even my friends (the ones who don't know him) call it name-dropping when I mention him, but this has nothing to do with how many times he's been mentioned in Spin... he's the truest example of integrity in the music business that I've ever met, and he's been a genuine friend... I would say the same right here if he were some guy at the local record store that no one had ever heard of. Ken Bartz... DJ, record producer, and creator/host of the late, great Manchester Avenue (a radio show that played a significant role in me wanting to be in a rock band)... as I said, I'd mention Steve Albini even if he were just a local guy... Ken's that local guy, he might not have ever played in Shellac or recorded PJ Harvey, but he's a man of equal importance and integrity. Ian Curtis... he made more impact with two albums than most people do in a lifetime, and had he lived longer he would no doubt have been known as one of rock's greatest lyricists (he's still one of the best)... I miss him even though he died before I was born. David Bowie, another of my greatest musical inspirations whose career I also wouldn't mind having. Elvis Presley (the young Elvis, before his tragic decline). Joe Dick. Curious George. Henry the Ape. Dale Cooper. GOB Bluth. Mr. Bean.