The good life....rockin' the nation with my bandmates, and all of the activities that "getting the word" out entails. Performing, schmoozing, sipping drinks, and being in the public eye! Music is my life, and hanging out with musicians is still on the top of my list. And cooking! Let's not forget that I'm quite skilled in the culinary arts. And yoga. I'm really digging the whole "stay in shape" thing. As for private matters, well, let's save that for later, shall we?
People I'd like to meet? Anyone with a sense of humor for starters. An appreciation of beauty, intelligent discussion, and fine liquor is a must. Judgemental and/or prejudicial people get a warning shot. I don't kiss ass, so please don't kiss mine!
Alex Chilton, Beatles, Belly, Big Star, Billy Bragg, Built to Spill, Byrds, the Call, Camper Van Beethoven, Neko Case, Caviar, the Church, Guy Clark, Close Lobsters, the Connells, the Cure, the Doves, Echo & the Bunnymen, the Fall, Guided By Voices, Kristen Hirsch, Interpol, Jayhawks, the Kinks, Liz Phair, Old 97s, Paul Westerberg, Pavement, Pixies, Magnetic Fields, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Replacements, REM, Ryan Adams, the Shins, Sleater-Kinney, Sloan, Son Volt, Squeeze, Steve Earl, Stone Roses, Television, Throwing Muses, Uncle Tupelo, U2, Weakerthans, Whiskeytown, Wilco, the Wrens. And, of course, Lipstick Conspiracy.
Bowling for Columbine, Farenheit 9/11, JFK, Manchurian Candidate, Nixon, the Package, Sneakers, Three Days of the Condor, Thirteen Days. Virtually anything with a conspiratorial flare, whether fictional or dramatized. And, to prove that I'm not all 'sound & fury', anything by Pixar, Wes Anderson, or the Cohen brothers, and any film with Ben Stiller.
Hmmmmm. Television. I have a real difficulty scheduling myself to watch TV, so On Demand is my best opportunity. Any Cable Series that has profanity, sex and NO commericals is worth watching. Personal favorites are (in no particular order) Rome, Deadwood, Queer As Folk, the "L" Word, and of course, the perennial Sopranos. Admittedly, I do enjoy having The Simpsons or Malcolm in the Middle in the background when cooking.
Lessee...I don't really have anything that is 'favorite,' but the one book that I do like to read every couple of years is The Phantom Tollbooth. Amazing. It just might be time to make that into a film. But, otherwise, I really don't read any fiction, though I have been known to read Patricia Highsmith. I do have some authors whose writings I like to get a hold of all the time, notably: William Langeweisch, Robert Kaplan, Jared Diamond, Russ Kick, Howard Bloom, and Stephen Hawking (and, yes, I DID read 'Brief History of Time,' and I DID understand it -- I was a math / physics major initially, after all). I also have a crop of friends that write amazing stuff, too...and I dig what they have to say as well: Charlie Anders, Ho Lin, Annalee Newitz, Michelle Tea, and a host of others (I'll be adding to this list as well). And, do comic books count?
My mom, mostly. Possibly Judy Jetson, too. But, then there's always the historical list of those lovable "megalomaniacs with a heart of gold" -- Julius Ceasar, Paul of Tarsus, Napoleon Bonaparte, Srivaji, Thomas Jefferson, Jesse James, John Dillinger, Carrie Nation, Camille Paglia, John Lennon, Shah Jahan, Michel Foucault and the Trung sisters.