Nice people.
Jazz, Folk, Bossa Nova, Soul, Funk, Electronica, Samba, House, Hip Hop, Nujazz, Neo Soul, World, Techno, Pop, downtempo, I’m running out of genres and styles I think? The sound of the ATM giving me money is music! Crickets singing late at night is definitely music! The funny noise an espresso machine makes when making that killer cup of coffee is my favourite song in the morning! The sound of a train in the distance, the thought of the adventures those lucky passengers are going to have! It’s all music isn’t it? I guess though I have to give praise and thanks to the musicians and artists that have given so much pleasure to my ears and heart. Curtis Mayfield, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Johnny Hartman, Roberta Flack, Andy Bey, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Jorge Ben, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Nick Drake, David Sylvian, The Temptations, John Coltrane, Al Green, Minnie Riperton, Cannonball Adderley, America, Dinah Washington, Joyce, John Holt, Herbie Hancock, Marcos Valle, Gil Scott Heron, Joe Henderson, Gregory Isaacs, Steely Dan, Leroy Hutson, Terry Callier, Carmen Lundy, Sun Ra, Bobby Hutcherson, Gil Evans, Gary Bartz, Dennis Brown, Lonnie Liston Smith, Roy Ayers, Chico Hamilton, Ben Sidren, Gladys Knight, I-Roy, U-Roy, Dillinger, Peter Tosh, Roland Kirk, Wayne Shorter, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Richard Evans, Parliament, Kool and the gang, Andrew Hill, Walt Dickerson, Lee Konitz, Paul Horn, Stanley Clarke, Cal Tjader, Oscar Brown Jr, Duke Pearson, Yusef Lateef, Norman Connors, Sergio Mendes &; Brasil 66, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, George Duke, Jacob Miller, Rose Royce, Deniece Williams, Donald Byrd, Dionne Warwick, Richie Havens, Lani Hall, Patrice Rushen, Gabor Szabo, Les Mccann, Charles Earland, Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius, Donny Hathaway. And then you have the nu breed, the next generation of amazing musical talent. Simply too many to list here but they are in my friends list and you need to check them out. You know who there are!
Strictly independent! European and generally films free from external control and constraint. Avoiding Hollywood at all costs is the name of the game! Cool films in my DVD collection are .. Kes, The hairdressers husband, The loneliness of a long distance runner, 8 ½, Down by law, Vera Drake, Bin-jip, Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom, Seom, Samaria, Nabbeun namja, A kind of loving, Billy Liar, Dr Strangelove, The L shaped room, Stranger than paradise, M, In the soup, Il Postino, King Rat, The Family way, Life is sweet, Un homme et une femme, The Wicker man, Romuald et Juliette, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Cathy Come Home. Le Conseguenze dell'amore, Monsieur Hire, all Patrice Leconte films actually, Dobro pozhalovat, Dobro pozhalovat Ili postoronnim vkhod vospreshchyon, Maria Full of Grace, One Hour Photo, Sansho dayu, Operatiunea 'Monstrul', Krzysztof Kieslowski films especially the Trois couleurs trilogy, Sjecas li se, Dolly Bell, Czesc Tereska, Nettoyage a sec, Drachenfutter, classic English Ealing comedies, Lavender Hill Mob, Vera Drake, Some classics too like Rear Window, One flew over the Cuckoo's nest, etc
In truth TV is over rated and mostly degrading of basic human intelligence. I find very little on TV that offers me any stimulation or act of arousal. I can some times find a sporting event, film, documentary, or comedy that can evoke activity generally regarded as heightened emotional stimuli, but generally I’m lost as to why I have tuned in. TV is a mechanism to sell you things you don’t really want or need! The programmes are purely accidental. TV truly died the day Jerry Springer was aired.
Now we are talking! One hours book reading will make you more intelligent than ten hours TV viewing. What I choose to read depends on what and where I am. Generally fact over fiction, though some of the worst films I ever saw, were in fact great yarns. Favourite books include the Dictionary, Watership Down, Concise Atlas Of the World, Julius Caesar, The Jungle Book, A-Z London Street Atlas, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451 and the Yellow Pages.
All the worlds’ children that suffer daily due to malnutrition, abuse, disease, deprivation and poverty. They are the real heroes of this and my world. I have no time for super sports stars earning one million per game, bling bling Hip Hop show offs displaying their fleets of exotic cars and exclusive sneakers on MTV and the likes. Heroes are those distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility, and strength. Kids with aids, without families and educations who strive just to make it through another day, these are the little guys I look up to the most. And when we finally learn about these super little heroes and help them in their suffering, then we too can also be considered paladins and illustrious.