Animals (I have 2 dogs Maddie and Mingus, but I love most all kinds of animals. Not too interested in playing with snakes and lizards that much, but I wish them no ill.). The Arts. All of them dammit. Don't push me on this one, I'll poleaxe ya. Most important to me are film, music and theatre. I really don't pay that much attention to organized dance. Politics and how it tries to reflect humanity.
People that are beautiful from the inside out. Women who are open-minded and adventurous. Girls that want to have fun. Movers, Shakers and Heartbreakers. I want the yin with the yang. I want the full-bodied taste, the deep rich aroma and I want to be able to squish it between my toes. Whatever "it" might actually be. I've never claimed to have the answers, but I promise you that I've got some questions you haven't asked.
All kinds of music, literally. In my heart of hearts I am a Rocker, but I also love Classical, Jazz, World music, Country, etc. Favorite artists include Bruce Springsteen (god), Elvis Costello (god), The Fall-Out Boys, XTC (gods), ELO, Radiohead (demi-gods), Chuck Berry (God), Bob Dylan (UBER-UBER-uber-god), The Ramones (Gods), Elvis Presley (another god),Bob Marley (stoned god), Arcade Fire, Duke Ellington (what a kick-ass god), The Clash ( do I have to say it?), The Jam, Pearl Jam, but Jimmy Jam not so much, Paul Simon (and the occasional Garfunkle), The Sex Pistols (Gods), The Beatles (absolute gods), The Kinks, Aretha Franklin, Manic Street Preachers, Cake, The Flaming Lips (Weirdo Gods, but gods none the less.), Buddy Holly, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ray Charles (G-G-G-god), Alison Krauss, The Gin Blossoms (low-key gods, but honestly, that is how they would want it.), Burt Bacharach (got more pussy than god), Arctic Monkeys, Tom Waits (This guy is so brilliant it's scary), Louis Armstrong (I love me some Louis), Spoon, The Talking Heads (Modest Mouse owes them a lot of money.), The Decemberists (A truly great band), Charlie Mingus (I named a dog after him, what more can I say?), They Might Be Giants (These guys are so brilliant it's scary. They should rename themselves Tom and Waits.), Fountains Of Wayne, The Everly Brothers, The Stereophonics, Johnny Cash (god that walked the line-hmmmmm-), The New Pornographers, T-Rex, Gnarls Barkley, James Brown (god), Garbage and so on.
This is another one of those neverending lists that I will probably add and subtract from as time passes. I am very director oriented so let me list some of my favorite directors: Kubrick, Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Fellini, Renoir, Scorsese, Spielberg, Tarantino, Woody Allen, Robert Altman, John Ford, Peter Jackson, Spike Jonez, David Cronenberg, Peter Weir, Powell/Pressburger, Guillermo del Toro, Ridley Scott, Michael Mann, George Romero (especially if zombies are involved), Wes Anderson, Henri Georges Clouzout, Hayao Miyazaki, David Fincher, Samuel Fuller, Werner Herzog and so on. I love Horror films, but preferably a movie with a real monster, and not just a knife-wielding maniac. I want some money spent on some cool make-up, or special effects. Children Of Men is good. Apocalypto is great despite having been directed by a crazy person. Pan's Labyrinth is absolutely beautiful. I recently enjoyed 3:10 To Yuma and In The Shadow Of The Moon. I seem to laugh at anything that Judd Apatow is involved with, I don't claim to have any control over it. I more recently loved No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. I still want to see American Gangster and Sweeney Todd and Juno.
I love television and enjoy a variety of show types. 24, Lost (however you are on notice Lost, get good and wacky again), Boston Legal, The Simpsons, Mythbusters, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, Friday Night Lights (best show on tv right now), Jeopardy, Iron Chef, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Naked Trucker and T-Bones, Arrested Development (I'm desperately looking for a sitcom that is actually funny anymore. Yeah, The Office has moments, but I'm one of those snobs that prefer the British series. I am starting to love the American series more. The turning point may have been the Survivorman episode (so funny it actually hurt). 30 Rock is great for the entire cast. My Name Is Earl has moments. There was a great British series called I'm Alan Partridge that BBC used to run. Otherwise, it is a dark time for comedy on tv.), I also must confess to being an American Idol junkie, as well as Project Runway, Top Chef and perhaps now Top Design. Cash Cab is cool. Top Gear is a lot of fun and you don't have to be a car nut. Pushing Daisies is a great show and deserves tremendous support. I also love Journeyman, a great show that I find to be surprisingly effective.
I have always loved to read, ever since I was a child. I walked into a tree when I was very young because I was reading a Dennis The Menace comic, a story my family will never let me forget. I am currently reading and rereading a lot of Mark Twain. I'm surprised how much of his work I missed as a young reader. Twain is a genius, in case no one ever told you that. I also love Jim Thompson, Michael Chabon, Michael Crichton (He's fun dammit, what more need I say.), Shelby Foote, Edgar Rice Burroughs (love Tarzan), Louis Lamour, Robert Heinlein, Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Thomas Pynchon, B. Traven, Robert Louis Stevenson, Graham Greene and so on.
My Father died on August 17th of 2007. He is my ideal of what a hero should be. He was the very epitome of The Greatest Generation. After serving in WWII he just continued to be a great man. He was a fireman and Fire Chief for over 34 years. He served his community all of his life. He built the church and the school that all of four of us kids started our educations at. He continued to be involved in the other schools that each of us went on to. He was into recycling and conservation long before it was cool. He worked in so many community organizations to improve the city he lived in. He excelled in those organizations. He had weaknesses, because he was human, but he was the best man I have ever known. If the human populace today would just endeavour to develop a fraction of the humanity that my father expressed with great ease, well the world would be a better place.