Movies, screenwriting, science fiction, mystery novels, climbin' stuff, whisk(e)y, cats, good music, movies, castles, backrubs, lasers, doin' a dance, telepathy, gainers, gin, lady types, Gil Elvgren, Robert McGinnis, Patrick Nagel, gallium, time travel, true love and the perfect crime.
Music
Jesca Hoop, The Puppini Sisters, Izzy Cox, Jimmy Buffett, Brennen Leigh, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Sarah Harmer, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Great Big Sea, Dean Martin, Johnny Cash, Dire Straits, Tom Waits, Depeche Mode, Flogging Molly, Duran Duran, The White Stripes, Jim Croce, AC/DC, Tom Jones, Henry Mancini, Guns N Roses, They Might Be Giants, Spalding Rockwell, The Besties. Generally: oldschool jazz, swing, 80s pop, Celtic music, oldschool country, electronica, anything with a wailin' guitar solo, any European folk music, anything with a bagpipe or accordion or banjo or harpsichord, most classical. A bit of almost everything, basically. But I can do without any rap or hip-hop that involves the word "club".
Now, behold two of the greatest covers of all time:
Alanis Morissette My Humps
From 2007: Juno, No Country For Old Men, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Hot Fuzz, Persepolis, Across The Universe, Superbad, Stardust, 300, Ratatouille, Pirates of The Caribbean: At World's End, 3:10 to Yuma.
From 2006: Brick, Apocalypto, Monster House, Casino Royale, Snakes on a Mothafuckin Plane, The Departed. The general shortlist: Kill Bill, Rififi, The Big Lebowski, Secretary, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Man On Fucking Fire, The Incredibles, Batman Begins, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, Big Trouble, Rushmore, The Blues Brothers, 20000 Leagues Under The Sea, Desperado, Indiana Jones (all), Star Wars (but only the real ones), Shaun Of The Dead, The Matrix, Love Actually, 28 Days Later, The Maltese Falcon, A Fistful Of Dollars, The Quick And The Dead, Ocean's Eleven (remake), Collateral, Face/Off, Titus, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Abyss, Chicago, Dick Tracy, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original, naturally), The Thomas Crown Affair (remake), Casablanca, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Pitt/Jolie). Anything with Christopher Walken or Michael Caine is worth a shot...
Television
Firefly, Black Books, Doctor Who, The Muppet Show, The West Wing, Lost, Battlestar Kickasstica, Wonderfalls, Supernatural, Scrubs, Star Trek (TOS & TNG), The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Mission: Impossible, MacGyver, Trigun, the X-Files.
Books
SF, mystery and crime thrillers, mostly. I like time travel, space travel, old-time detectives and professional-criminal protagonists. More specifically: Anythying by Richard Stark or Donald E. Westlake. Anything by John D. MacDonald, Spider Robinson, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ray Bradbury or Heinlein. Lawrence Block's "Burglar" series. Harry Potter is freakin' amazing. The Art Of War. Conan series (the originals, by Howard, Carter & De Camp).
Heroes
Jesus, my parents, Dan Stephenfield (teacher/mentor/friend/inspiration), all the authors mentioned in the "books" section, MacGyver, Travis McGee, Indiana Jones.
Who I'd like to meet: H.G. Wells, Donald E. Westlake, Christopher Walken, Spider Robinson, a cat burglar, a pirate, a time traveller, a wizard, an extraterrestrial, a Viking and a ninja. And generally, nice people. Filmmakers. Musicians and writers.
Happy birthday ... one day late! I hope you had a great day! I've been thinking about you and sending you good thoughts and good energy! I hope to hear from you whenever you get a chance! ...What's this? ...engaged? Congrats!!!
