Imaginative thinking, creativity, freedom, self-expression...
(In no particular order) Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Marie Curie, Man Ray, Tim Berners-Lee, Carl Jung, Early Homo Sapiens, Tenochtitlan, Evie Hone, Salvadore Dali, A Siberian Shaman...
At the moment I'm listening to: Andrew Bird, Antony and the Johnsons, Arcade Fire, Arvo Pärt, Beirut, Belle and Sebastian, Bert Jansch, Beth Orton, Blood Red Shoes, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Calexico, Carbonic, Cat Power, Charlie Parr, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Decemberists, Handsom Furs, Hood, Iron and Wine, Isobel Cambell (with Mark Lanegan), Juana Molina, Kyle Tomzo, Lost In Hildurness, Low, Mars Volta, McLusky, Midlake, Mobius Band, Múm, Noah Georgeson, Patti Smith, Scout Niblett, SFA, Smog, The New Pornogaphers, Stephen Malkmus, Sufjan Stevens, Tom Waits, TV on the Radio, Viking Moses, Voice of the Seven Woods, Von Iva...
Films I've seen in the last while and really enjoyed: No Country for Old Men, Into the Wild, Control, The Scent of Green Papaya, Raging Bull, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Apocalypto, Paris Je t'aime, This is England, Little Miss Sunshine, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Casino Royale, Volver, The Queen, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Finis Terrae (Epstein), Himalaya (Eric Valli), Nacho Libre, Curse of the Were-Rabbit...
I was at a James Yorkston gig in London many moons ago and met a number of people working for BBC TV. They wanted to know what I watch on TV. Somewhere between horrified and fascinated describes how they reacted when I told them I don't have one. It's funny getting calls from cable TV companies and they launch into a sales pitch, then when they take a breath I say: "but I don't HAVE a TV"...silence...Choice bits of TV I watch on DVD (I'm not a TOTAL luddite living in a cave but I DO enjoy the anachronistic vibe!).
Isn't it great when someone hints you might like a certain book...and then when you get hold of it you just can't put it down??? Some of my recent favourites: Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Love in the Time of Cholera, Living to Tell the Tale), Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes, 'Tis), Geraldine Brooks (Year of Wonders), Haruki Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World), Kazou Ishiguro (A Pale View of Hills), Patrick Süskind (Perfume), Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose), Ben Okri (Famished Road). Hey, people are books too eh? Well, everyone has a story to tell...
People who, despite adversity, live life to the full and have a positive influence on others.