SERIOUS LIFE INFLUENCES: Christ, Gandhi, Greg Holder, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Billy Graham, Shane Claiborne, Bono, William Wilberforce, Ed Witten (M-Theorist), Brian Greene (Theoretical Physicist), Dean Kamen (Inventor).
PERSONAL FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES WHOSE IMPACT AND EXAMPLE HAS BEEN DEEPER THAN THEY THINK: Matt Grube, Greg Holder, Brad Andrews, Ron Krause, Ron Tucker, Gino Hicks, Jason Styger, Steve Johnston, James Jackson, Jay Hungerford.
MUSIC (most represent complete C.D.s on my iPOD that I've purchased)
FUSION, JAZZ and PROGRESSIVE ROCK: Scott Henderson, Scott Kinsey, Gary Willis, Virgil Donati, Steve Weingart, Marc Guillermont, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Tim Miller, Ben Monder, Dave Weckl, Chick Corea, Mike Brecker, the Brecker Bros, George Garzone, Angelo Debarre, Mike Keneally, Ty Tabor, Hiromi, Frank Zappa, Enver Izmailov, Billy Childs, Mike Landau, Pat Metheny, Tony Grey, Miles Okazaki, Lale Larson, Frank Gambale, Alain Caron, Electric Outlet, Dysrhythmia, Derek Sherinian, George Lynch, Stewart Copeland, Jeff Babko, Eric Johnson, Joscho Stephan, the Rosenberg family, Danny Gatton, Tomatito, Liberty Ellman, Astral Project, James Emery, John Scofield, Vinnie Colaiuta, Derek Bailey, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Cyril Achard, Fred Frith, Jeff Beck, Shawn Lane, Janek Gwizdala, Peter Sprague, Lionel Loueke, Adam Nitti, Adrian Legg, Mike Slamer, Reb Beach, Shane Theriot, Marcus Deml, Ron Thal, Greg Howe, Stefano Battaglia, Bryan Baker, Jack Wilkins, Niacin, Bruce Bouillet, Matthew Garrison, Richie Kotzen, Jazz Pistols, Marco Minnemann, John Petrucci, Canvas Solaris, Hilmar Jensson, David Binney, Aydin Esen, Uri Caine, Adam Holzman, Craig Taborn, Gordian Knot, Steve Walsh, Guthrie Govan, Fahir Atakoglu, Jim Campilongo, Hadrien Feraud, Andy Milne, Tim Berne, Marc Ducret, Sir Millard Mulch, Preston Reed, Martin Taylor, Nelson Veras, Tom Kennedy, Planet X, Alex Milella, Steve Lukather, Scott Lerner, Brett Garsed, Steve Vai, Eivind Aarset, Jeff Kollman, Ruins, Allan Holdsworth, Adam Rogers, Oz Noy, Allen Hinds, Pat Martino, Wayne Krantz.
MODERN ROCK, SINGER-SONGWRITER, ELECTRONICA, WORLD, AND ALT-POP: Quodia, Muse, Elbow, Anúna, Coldplay, Mute Math, Magnet/Even Johansen, the Beatles, U2, KT Tunstall, Plumb, Amer Ammouri, David Fiuczynski, Krakatau, Evanescence, Benevento Russo Duo, Rufus Wainwright, Aqualung, Amon Tobin, Arcade Fire, Deathcab for Cutie, Ani DiFranco, Psapp, Rob Dougan, Djivan Gasparyan & Vachagan Avakian, Lustmord, Anathallo, Alarm Will Sound; Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, The Corrs, Tegan and Sara, Population 1, Azam Ali, Patrick Watson, the Feeling, Greg Laswell, Mourning Widows, Amos Lee, Carla Kihlstedt, Kimya Dawson, Nils Frykdahl, Butterfly Boucher, Tin Hat Trio, Dhafer Youssef, Faun Fables/Dawn McCarthy, Stars of Track and Field, Immersion Composition Society, Mike Patton, Faith No More, Tina Dico, Imogen Heap, Beck, Bibio, the Books, Trevor Rabin, Kasabian, Juno Reactor, Hybrid, I:scintilla, the Future Sound of London, E.S. Posthumus, Four Tet, Bitter:Sweet, Brad Andrews, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher, Keller Williams, People in Planes, Celldweller/Klayton, Fantômas, Nick Drake, Porcupine Tree, Rage Against the Machine, Tabla Beat Science, Baka Forest People Of Southeast Cameroon, Propellerheads, Sia, BT, Thom Yorke, Team Sleep, Sigur Rós, Overseer, Duncan Sheik, Milford Graves, Arnold Dreyblatt & The Orchestra of Excited Strings, Au, Skeleton Key, the Verve, Andrew Bird, Baka Beyond, Sondre Lerche, Sufjan Stevens, the Dear Hunter, Sara Groves, Voyager One, Damiera, Switchfoot, Snow Patrol, the Thrills, Poe, Jeff Buckley, Alanis Morissette, the Vines, Terje Isungset, Spymob, Keane, Jonatha Brooke, Fiona Apple, Derek Webb, NIN, Marjorie Fair, Alexi Murdoch.
SOUNDTRACK COMPOSERS: Goldsmith, Corner Stone Cues, Williams, Herrmann, Michael McGlynn, Horner, Elfman, Newman, Zimmer, Bear McCreary, Roque Banos, James Newton Howard, Michael Giacchino.
CLASSICAL/20th CENTURY: Debussy, Ravel, Prokofeiv, Mozart, Beethoven, J.S. Bach, György Ligeti, Stravinsky, Bartok, Cage, Mark Yu, Zappa, Boulez, Markus Hauke & Michael Kiedaisch.
BLUES/ROCK: Stevie Ray, Hendrix, Derek Trucks, Robert Randolph, Albert Cummings, John Mayer, Jonny Lang, Albert King, BB King, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Keb' Mo', John Butler Trio, Joe Bonamassa.
PUNKS: Andre Boyd, Jesse Gannon.
T.V.: Battlestar Galactica (the new one is BRILLIANT...really...Peabody Award winner here, folks), Lost (the single best show on television, ever), Mad Men, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, the Sarah Silverman Program, Flight of the Conchords, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Colbert Report, Sopranos, the Free Credit Report.com guy (damn those catchy songs!!), Arrested Development, the Sarah Connor Chronicles, the Office (American version), the Simpsons, Freaks and Geeks, the Brady Bunch, Blues Clues, Sleeper Cell, Rome, the Twilight Zone, Heroes, Dexter, Pushing Daisies, HBO's John Adams, Torchwood.
FROM FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS - ONE OF THE FUNNIEST SHOWS ON T.V.
CARTOON/ANIMATION INFLUENCES: the Simpsons, Homestarrunner, South Park, Ren and Stimpy (John Kricfalusi w-Spumco), old Warner Bros, Ralph Bakshi, Speed Racer, Johnny Quest.
Movies: GENERAL: The Devil Came on Horseback, Crash (Paul Haggis), Gandhi, Last King of Scotland, Amadeus, the Dark Knight, In Bruges, Donnie Darko, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Moulin Rouge, Godfather II, LOTR Trilogy, Matrix I, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, No Country For Old Men, Silence of the Lambs, WALL E, Run Lola Run, Usual Suspects, Hard Candy, There Will Be Blood, Snatch, American Beauty, Juno.
Movies: SILLY, BUT FUNNY: Superbad, Knocked Up, Snakes on a Plane, Office Space, 40 Year Old Virgin, Wedding Crashers, Anchorman, Old School.
Directors: Wes Anderson, Jason Reitman, Coen Brothers, Alexander Payne, Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Hitchcock, Aronofsky, Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, Sam Raimi, Sam Mendes, Cronenberg, Ridley Scott, Francis Ford Coppola, Sophia Coppola, David Lynch, Scorsese, Wachowski Brothers, Kubrick, Apatow.
Screenwriters: Charlie Kaufman, Paul Haggis, Coen Brothers, Alan Ball, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, Diablo Cody, Lawrence Kasdan, M. Night Shyamalan, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg, Steven Zaillian.
Actors and Actresses: Streep, Brando, DeNiro, Nicholson, Katherine Hepburn, Spacey, Pacino, Duvall, Olivier, Jodie Foster, Freeman, Kingsley, Heath Ledger, Ellen Page, Hillary Swank, Malkovich, Gary Oldman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, Anthony Hopkins, Depp, Gary Sinise, Tom Hanks, Forest Whittaker.
Books I've read in the past 2 years: the Bible; The Audacity of Hope (Barack Obama); The Crisis of Islam (Bernard Lewis); The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality (Brian Greene); 1776 (David McCullough); Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Doris Kearns Goodwin); Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (Noam Chomsky); Abraham Lincoln - Lincoln's Letters: The Private Man and the Warrior (Abraham Lincoln); The Truth About Muhammad (Robert Spencer); 2012 (Daniel Pinchbeck); I Am America and So Can You (Steven Colbert); Democracy in America (Alexis de Tocqueville); Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Saudi-U.S. Connection (Gerald Posner); Irresistible Revolution: Living As an Ordinary Radical (Shane Claiborne); Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Rob Bell); Two Treatises of Government (John Locke); The Abolition of Man, the Great Divorce, Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis): Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors (Nicholas Wade); Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Frederick Douglass); A People's History of the United States: Highlights from the Twentieth Century (Howard Zinn); The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke; The Devil Came On Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide In Darfur (Brian Steidle with Gretchen Steidle Wallace); the THIRTEEN American Arguments (Howard Fineman); The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (Vincent Bugliosi); Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain (Sharon Begley); The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court (Jeffrey Toobin); Common Sense (Thomas Paine); Race (Studs Terkel); Giving (Bill Clinton); A Work of Heart (Reggie McNeal); The Inferno (Dante Alighieri); the End of Oil (Paul Roberts); the Words We Live By (Linda Monk); The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades (Robert Spencer); The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization (Thomas L. Friedman); The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Lawrence Wright); The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor (William Langewiesche); Allegory of the Cave (Plato); Plan of Attack (Bob Woodward); Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy (Thomas Stowell); China, Inc (Thomas L. Friedman); the Darfur Diaries (Jen Marlowe); Modern China (Rana Mitter); Joe Biden, Promises to Keep (Joe Biden); Quantum - A Guide for the Perplexed (Jim Al-Khalili); Genome (Matt Ridely); What We Could Have Done With the Money-50 Ways We Could Have Spent the Trillion Dollars We've Spent on Iraq (Rob Simpson); the Idiot's Guide to String Theory (George Musser); Brave New World (Aldous Huxley); Quantum Reality (Nick Herbert); the Metaphysics (Aristotle); Being and Time (Martin Heidegger); Endgame part 1-the Problem of Civilization, and Endgame part 2-Resistance (Derrick Jensen); Parallel Worlds (Michio Kaku); Philosophy-100 Essential Thinkers (Philip Stokes); Human Smoke (Nicholson Baker); the God Theory (Bernard Haisch); the Seven Mysteries of Life (Guy Murchie); the Prince and Other Writings (Niccolo Machiavelli); Great Dialogues of Plato (translated by W.H.D. Rouse); How to Build a Time Machine (Paul Davies); the Power of Myth (Joseph Campbell); Reflections of the Art of Living-a Joseph Campbell Companion (edited by Diane K. Obson); Warped Passages (Lisa Randall); For the New Intellectual, the Fountainhead, Anthem (Ayn Rand); Russia-the Eurasian Republics and Central/Eastern Europe (Dr. Minton F. Goldman) .
I am ONLY adding/accepting bands, musicians, non-profits, NGO's, film makers and personal friends.
HELP PREVENT MALARIA IN AFRICA
http://www.nothingbutnets.net/
QUOTES TO LIVE BY:
"This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." -George Bernard Shaw
...and yet Henri the cat is unfulfilled. Watch his film noir here:
For more than three years, ongoing violence has devastated the remote western region of Sudan known as Darfur. Fighting has reduced villages to ashes, crops to barren fields. Untold numbers of Sudanese are dead. More than two million others have fled their homes and settled into camps for displaced people in Sudan and neighboring Chad.
