I am addicted to games like:
and absolutely adore card games... especially Spades, BlackJack, Poker, and Forty-Fives .
I'm head-over-heels into nature and wildlife conservation. Where else are we going to go but Earth? This planet and its species are really the only one we've got right now, and it's so extraordinary that we really ought to wake up gracious and humbled that we have it at all:
ASPCA / MSPCA , Nature Conservancy , WWF , Audubon Society (MA)
I like talking to eccentric people or bright people who can talk to anyone about anything or just think on their toes. I love swimming, boxing matches, gardening (anything in the earth... I appreciate how beautiful it is to cultivate and grow), sculpting, 3D stop motion, painting, appreciating 2D animation (fervent cartoon fanaticus giganticus) and graphic arts of others (mine leaves much to be desired but I do try sometimes), Wallace & Gromit and Wile E. Coyote, trouble-shooting/fixing things (either just around the house or at work) or pulling them apart in hopes of making them run more efficiently, studying Rodin (I loved visiting their exhibit and wrote a research paper about it when I was 15. As nice as their garden was, I'm still not completely satiated. :) I dream about seeing the Rodin museum in Paris at some point, but I haven't made any solid travel plans), enjoying myself,
(!!!)...
outdoorsying/ kayaking/ sailing/ canoeing/ backpacking/ hiking, cooking, chocolatiering (or just enjoying Munsons ! Which is difficult for me as I'm diabetic and their sugar-free stuff is about as lousy as everyone elses.' Theirs is a labor of love, though, and I recommend them all the time! Curse you, sweet tooth!), accounting, seeing live music, reading, cardsharking, collecting and drinking reds (pinot noir, mostly) and a few beaujolais, fierce and strange exploits, and probably a boatload of other things w/the "ing" extension that I've forgotten.
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Members from all these off and on-stage incredibles :
Hothouse Flowers .I love Liam! What a voice on him. Like an angel! He's just gorgeous and his voice is way beyond my scope of words, I tend to think! They're easily one of the best bands you will ever see live. They don't have to be loud, wear costumes, or use any special lighting. lol. Not that this is bad because a show is a show... but, without props, they are what they are... :) amazing.
Super Furry Animals They have unbelievable stage presence & the costumes are always fun at every show, though... every year, every album, every time. Hands down. Very clever light shows, as well. They're cosmically ingenious & Gruff's also easy on the eyes. Haha - maybe I am a bit partial, though, because his b-day's a few days after mine. ;)Silliness aside, they're grade A. You may actually be utterly deaf by the time you get home from a Super Furry Animals show, but you won't care because it will be one the best rock shows of your life.
SFA: "It's Not The End of the World"
My Morning Jacket : They write some of the best modern rock love songs... and I am a total sucker for that. :) The guitarwork is fantastic... again, another incredible guitar band like all of them on my page truly are. I don't get envious very often at all and I am so envious! If I could play a fraction as well as some of these guys, I could die happy! ;) When all the other bands from all over the world were putting us to complete shame, My Morning Jacket was one of the two bands who, within the past 5-8 yrs, has put U.S. Rock back on the map as contenders.
The Doves : mesmerizing & captivating... like a first date with the person you thought you'd never get.
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+ love The Pogues (of course! do I even need a reason? ;)) Figured I may as well post a vid for the heck of it :) This and "In My Blue Heaven" get stuck in my head for days at a time. lol. Maddening! :)
+ Harvey Reid - I've already met him (well, just shook hands and had a chance to say hello) twice and he's really nice, but I'd like to meet him again! He puts on amazing shows. Been to three of them so far. I know, i know - You're thinking, "Who is that?" Trust me. You'd love him, too. He's a storyteller and can literally play anything with strings. Surreal! He plays these types of instruments I've never seen before or even knew existed. He's a character, for sure. Luckily for me, this area is local to him. I feel blessed such talent is in New England! I want to learn how to play guitar eventually (probably in the off-season when I move), and he's some great inspiration, for certain.
Would also love to run into Anthony Bourdain , world-class author & chef and now the very famous (or infamous, depending upon the episode) "No Reservations" host. He seems like a really intelligent, breezy, funny, stand-up guy who tells you the truth and not necessarily what you want to hear. I don't like sugar-coated people. So, he's grade A in my book. Not to mention the absolutely awesome chef part. Yeah, I mentioned that once or twice already. Yay, cooking. Haha :) During some point of every show, he mentions how lucky he is to have the job he does. I agree. It's a dream-come-true for most of us. His website isn't updated with new seminar/speaking tour listings yet! Ahck. Too bad.
It'd also be absolutely brilliant to meet some of my favorite sculptors (well, the living ones, of course. Haha :) LOL) like Nick Park from Aardmanand Pete Fowler of monsterism, among his manyother endeavors, I noticed! ... and adult-animators such as Adam Reed and MattThompson , who came up with the idea of SeaLab2021, a recycled version of SeaLab2020from 1972, mainly. Two people who could use the meager resources at hand to makesomething so enormously funny... just incredibly brilliant. Some tasteless people onthe web describe it as "not as funny as south park." Hmph. Well, we all know whatlosers those web people are. :-p Haha, wait a minute. I'm on the... Oh well, anyway, it's avery funny show and I have all their DVDs for good reason.
Sometime in my oh-so-far-from-ultramundane, sleepy existence, I'd also love to meet Billy Connolly . I know he's been a legend in the UK for at least a few centuries... I'm pretty sure there are Neolithic wall glyphs of what could pass for an ancient photograph of one of his live shows. My friend Ronan from Dublin first got me into all his comedic bits about six years ago... and he is perhaps the funniest person I've ever heard. Certainly, at least that I can think of... I love all of his material. He's so unrehearsed.
Realistically speaking, I dream on a smaller scale, too. You know... about all you unfamous bastards, like me. :) It'd be great to meet some regular folk, like me, who can (here's hoping!) hold big thoughts without a bucket... possibly other ENTP , like me ^again, or fp types. Well, you don't need a label or anything. Just have a melon on top of your shoulders.
I am certified:
32% addicted to Myspace
Are you addicted to MySpace?
(custom contact table, ETC., got me pretty good on this quiz. ;) lol)
If you like any songs on my page, feel free to click here and check to see what i have uploaded. It varies now and then from normal to funny/corny stuff, but it's a pain in the keistah (painfully slow free site to upload things no matter how fast your connection speed) for the most part. lol. :) I try to put something new in there once a week, anyway.
Hothouse Flowers,
Hey, who let that madman Bono into this photo? ;)
The Tragically Hip,
Gruff Rhys (it's in Welsh, though- it's a fantastic video. LOVE it!),
Super Furry Animals ,
Pink Floyd,
The Who,
Fitzrovian Phonographic,
Gnarls Barkley,
The Soundtrack of Our Lives,
Band of Thieves,
Billy Idol,
My Morning Jacket,
Spiritualized,
Prince,
Iggy Pop & the Stooges,
The Doves,
Mark Sandman & Morphine (who are, sadly, no more),
Chris Isaak,
AC/DC,
Prong,
Pantera,
T.I.King,
The Coral,
Bone Thugs & Harmony,
The Chieftains,
Daft Punk,
50Cent,
ZZ Top,
Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
Ying Yang Twins,
The Verve/R.Ashcroft,
Cassius,
Crydamoure (whoare also, sadly, defunct),
Muddy Waters,
Roy Orbison,
Chuck Berry,
Mighty MightyBosstones,
Basement Jaxx,
Talking Heads,
Gorillaz,
Clinic,
Fire Theft/Jeremy Enigk,
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers,
Van Morrison,
The Diggs,
Spoon,
TheChemical Brothers,
The Dubliners,
The Flaming Lips,
Grateful Dead,
Queens of the Stone Age,
Hall & Oates,
The Beach Boys,
Howlin' Wolf,
Gomez,
Interpol,
Warren Zevon,
Fisherspooner,
U2,
JimmyReed,
The Pogues,
Polyphonic Spree,
The Kinks,
The Clash,
Beastie Boys,
Earth, Wind, and Fire,
The Cult,
Koko Taylor,
Anita Baker,
Stardust,
Dropkick Murphys,
Orbital,
Belle & Sebastian,
The PostalService,
Sepultura,
The Charlatans,
Peter Bjorn and John,
Motorhead,
Donna Summers,
Sigur Ros,
The Crystal Method,
The Gossip,
The Waterboys,
N.W.A.,
Ice Cube,
Faith No More,
Johnny Cash,
Eric Clapton,
The Good, The Bad, & The Queen,
E.L.O,
George Michael,
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead,
... andprobably the best guitar/stringed instrument player you've most likely never heardbefore named Harvey Reid , who just happens to bean absolute charismatic prodigy. I think he enjoys staying under the radar.
8 1/2 Women,
The Departed, The Hunted, Lucky Number S7evn, The Manchurian Candidate, Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, Munich, Spaceballs, The Browning Version, The Full Monty, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Imposters, Aeon Flux, Scarface, The Pink Panther (the original, of course!), Blazing Saddles, Three Amigos, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon, Ong-Bak: The Muay Thai Warrior, The Curse of the Golden Flower, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Monsters Inc., The Kid Stays in the Picture, Derailed, Match Point, Mystic River, History of the World: Part I, Hero, Kung Fu Hustle, Murder on the Orient Express, House of Flying Daggers, Animal House, Bourne Supremacy & ID, Aardman DVDs/films (The Creature Comfort Series, A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, Curse of the Wererabbit, Flushed Away w/Dreamworks, et. al.!), Snatch, Cool Hand Luke, The Deer Hunter, The Great Escape, El Laberinto del Fauno, The Flower of Evil, Objective: Burma, Sin City, 300, ANYTHING directed by Mel Brooks or with Leslie Nielsen in it (lol), Raging Bull, Ronin, The Ox(Nykvist), Hearts in Atlantis, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, Layer Cake, Stripes, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Wet Hot American Summer, The Great Outdoors, Blues Brothers, CaddyShack, Psycho Beach Party, Three Stooges shorts...
DR.WHO(!!!)(the old and the new versions; YES, I am OLD enough to have watched Dr. Who and Creature Double Feature reruns on PBS and Boston's WLVI 56... lol), MST3K reruns, Farscape reruns, CHEAP SEATS reruns, Graham Norton, House, Anthony Bourdain/No Reservations, Alton Brown's show, Courage the Cowardly Dog, SeaLab2021, Samurai Jack, Big Love, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Extras, PSYCH, My War Diary, and, of course, BOXING! Soap, Benny Hill, and Police Squad, too... remember? ;)
I try to read anything and everything I can by Thich Nhat Hanh, W.G. Sebald, Sun Tzu, Dante, the Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso I mean), Norman Mailer, Steinbeck, Richard Adams, Ray Bradbury (love Sci-fi), some Tolstoy (you know the big exception, heehe), Machiavelli,Dostoevsky, Sophocles, Chaucer, and Voltaire... most of the authors we were assigned to read in school I've been secretly reading (or trying to finish or forgetting to finish) since before I could probably understand what they were really all about. I used to sneak into the adult section in my hometown's library after school and sit in the alcoves upstairs or in the big leather chairs to read the books they wouldn't let me check out before I got my adult library card. I used to think of these trips more as some divine escape from reality rather than an understanding or learning experience. That's probably a very self-critical thing to admit and something my teachers probably would have frowned upon had they known my motives :-p
My Dad 1937-2000, Drew! :), my Grampy 1936-2007, and really... well... anyone else dedicated to inspiring harmony and getting things done without complaining half the day/night. :)