T he totality of human experience: Music; Literature; Art; Science; Spirituality; Philosophy; Nature; Science Fiction; Paleontology; Etymology; Languages; Architecture; Theatre; Computers; Sports; Cars; Flying; Space ...
I nteresting, intelligent, sincere, open-minded people; if any of them happen also to be hirsute, muscular, and gay, so much the better.
Get a cool scroller sign at MyToolSpace.com
T here are few types of music that I don't much like, and even then I can still appreciate the talent it takes to create them. Having studied Classical piano for many years and having listened to popular tunes during the 40's and 50's, I used to prefer those, but life experiences and interactions with new acquaintances, especially those from different cultures, have engendered an appreciation for Raga, New Age, Rock, Easy Listening, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Opera, Broadway Musicals, Film Soundtracks, and many other forms. To list specific composers or artists would require far too much space; so if you'd like to learn specifics, contact me so we can discuss the topic.
I f I had the time, I would go to the movies at least twice a week; they give me the opportunity to suspend the reality of daily life and immerse myself in the depths of their creators' imagination. Consequently, I prefer a theatre setting over a home DVD version, for the larger screen allows me to lose myself among the projected images.
M y absolute favorite genre is science fiction (ranging from classics like "The Day The Earth Stood Still" to the high-tech like "Star Wars"), but I also enjoy action and adventure (all of the James Bond films and "Raiders of the Lost Ark", anime ("Akira"), Disney and other animated ("Ice Age"), drama ("The Lion In Winter" and "On Golden Pond"), musicals ("The Sound of Music", "Cats", "Phantom of the Opera"), pseudo-historical ("Elizabeth"), Shakespeare ("Much Ado About Nothing"), foreign (Kurosawa's "Ran" and "Kagemusha"), comedy ("Victor/Victoria" and "Cage aux Folles"), indies ("Koyaanisqatsi"), and dozens more.
W hen interactive holographic cinema is developed, I will be among the first to champion its advent.
W ere it not for PBS, BRAVO, the Discovery Channel, TCA, the Sci-Fi Channel, and others like these, I probably would not watch much television. The slapstick humor and canned laughter of sitcoms leave me cold; "reality" TV revolts me; most sports telecasts are "same old, same old". And the plethora of commercials (which characteristically are never interrupted for public service announcements) would try the patience of Job. Local newscasts try to kidnap our attention with one interesting topic, which is buried under mountains of sensationalism: murders, rapes, abductions, war, terrorist activities, scandals, etc. In my opinion, any topic targeting the public interest should be presented in toto immediately ; save the "details at eleven" nonsense for the usual garbage.
P erhaps if I invested in premium channels, I would be less disenchanted with TV, but I refuse to pay a couple hundred dollars a month just to receive a few programs that might appeal to my personal interests.
F or me books are both blessing and curse: a blessing because they fill my world with knowledge, excitement, adventure, color; a curse because they fill every nook and cranny of my living space, as well as two storage facility units.
A s teachers and loving, responsible parents, my mother and father introduced me to the wonders of the universe through books from the first weeks of my existence: fairy tales, classical children's stories, picture books (Audibon's magnificent bird illustrations), socio-anthropological books (People and Places of the World), words (dictionaries with etymological derivations), literature (complete works of Shakespeare; poetry), general knowledge (encyclopedias), science fiction (Edgar Rice Burroughs' tales of John Carter and Barsoom). Over the decades hundreds and hundreds of books on topics covering the gamut of human knowledge have shared their content with me. Although my professional life requires reading large quantities of medical literature, I always try to set aside time to read something merely for entertainment.
W hat aspect of a person's life or actions make one person a hero and another just someone doing his/her job? I'll leave that unanswered for now.
S ome of the people whose lives and actions I would characterize as heroic are Socrates; Yeshua, Buddha, Mohammed; Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and the other founding fathers of the American Republic; Abraham Lincoln; Mother Teresa; Princess Diana. I know there should be many others on this list, and I shall amend it as I think of their names.