My family is top-priority for me. Without them I'd be nothing. I have a beautiful, awesome wife named Amy, who heroically puts up with my shit (most of the time--ha ha), and two great sons, Joe (9 yrs) who is in the fourth grade now, and Cole (5 months) who is just learning to laugh (and do bench presses--he's a strong boy). Some of my other interests include music, reading, writing, poker, and watching movies (horror movies are my favorite, I collect them). I love surrealism. Anything odd and unusual interests me. I love good wine and beer. No, I'm not talking about fuckin Budweiser or Franzia. As one of my favorite beers, Arrogant Bastard, puts it on their label: "This is an aggressive beer. You probably won't like it. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory--maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it's made in a little brewery, or one that implies their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this." Belgian beers and American microbrews are my faves. I love a lot of English beers (pretty much just their porters and stouts), too. As for wine, I like pretty much anything that tastes good and isn't plonk. At the moment, my favorite red is Syrah/Shiraz and my favorite white is Sauvignon Blanc.
Music
I created a music guide on Amazon.com. To find out what I really think about some of these bands listed below, go here: here.
Radiohead is the greatest band on the planet. I believe they're the best band to exist since The Beatles. Speaking of, I love The Beatles. Also, Pink Floyd, Joy Division, Beck, Interpol, The Cure, The Velvet Underground, The Doors, Violent Femmes, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Creedence, The Who, Bjork, Tool, The Beastie Boys, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, Liars, Animal Collective, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, The White Stripes, Clinic, The Pixies, John Lennon, Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Slint, Syd Barret, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Franz Ferdinand, Blur, Broadcast, PJ Harvey, The Beta Band, Gorillaz, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Modest Mouse, REM, Blondie, New Order, The Rapture, The Zombies, The Rolling Stones, The Grass Roots, Sparklehorse, Clutch, Nirvana, Donovan, Billie Holliday, Damien Rice, Queens of the Stone Age, Stephen Malkmus, Pavement, Jonny Greenwood, Thom Yorke, The Raincoats, British Sea Power, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, Grandaddy, ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Massive Attack, The Flaming Lips, Portishead, Jeff Buckley, Beth Gibbons, Television, Magazine, The Breeders, Big Star, Wilco, Supergrass, The Fall, The Shins, The Arcade Fire, Tom Petty, The Eagles, old Metallica, Hank Williams, Hank Jr., Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Roger Miller, Merle Haggard, Johnny Horton, Hank Thompson, Willie Nelson, Tom T. Hall, George Jones, George Strait, Hank III, Shooter Jennings, pretty much all classical music, especially the usual suspects like Bach, Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Handel, plus Purcell, Pachelbel, Rossini, Berlioz, Stravinsky, Ives, etc.
PAUSE MY PROFILE PLAYER BEFORE PLAYING THIS VIDEO. IT'S AN AWESOME RADIOHEAD CLIP OF JONNY GREENWOOD SWINGING HIS GUITAR AROUND LIKE A FRIGGIN LASSO.
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A video with a message. This one is mindblowing. Rabbit in Your Headlights by UNKLE featuring Thom Yorke:
This has to be the creepiest video I've ever seen. Aphex Twin:
Movies
The greatest scene in cinema history:
Stand By Me is my favorite film of all time, then 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Pulp Fiction. Then, in no particular order: The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, Napolean Dynamite, Altered States, The Doors, Dazed and Confused, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Leaving Las Vegas, The Ring, Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Others, Airplane!, various old horror movies (anything with Vincent Price), The Haunting (original version), The Shining, American Beauty, Blue Velvet, Mullholland Drive, Eraserhead, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Carnival of Souls, The Cell, Dark City, Glory, Donnie Darko, Hang 'Em High, Creepshow, Eyes Wide Shut, Easy Rider, Grindhouse, Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs, Casino Royale, most of the Nightmare on Elm Streets, most of the Friday the 13ths, Halloween, Re-Animator, Meeting People is Easy, Field of Dreams, Dumb and Dumber, Anchorman, Animal House, Identity, Half Baked, I Married a Strange Person, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, The Matrix, Jacob's Ladder, Planet of the Apes (original), Plan 9 From Outer Space, Ed Wood, Predator, Terminator 2, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Poltergeist, Scary Movie, The Sixth Sense, The Thing (John Carpenter version), True Romance, Up in Smoke, Nice Dreams, Pink Floyd: The Wall, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead (both versions), The Wizard of Oz, Sideways, Braveheart, Forrest Gump, They Live, Groundhog Day, The Abyss, Bodysong, Fight Club, Risky Business, Rounders, Secret Window, Go, The Rules of Attraction, Frailty
*Anything* by Stephen King. My favorites of his include The Dark Tower series, The Talisman (with Peter Straub), The Long Walk, Skeleton Crew, Night Shift, The Shining, IT, Insomnia, Rose Madder, and Misery. I also admire H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe. I've recently just been introduced to what's known as Bizarro fiction. This is the kind of fiction I've been looking for my whole life. I've always loved surreal, weird, fucked up stuff, whether it be in film, music, art, or literature. This is great stuff if you're into the surreal or the bizarre. I've started writing short stories and poems in this genre and will be published sometime late this year, possibly next year. Some other good books I've read recently include Scott Smith's The Ruins and Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine by George M. Taber. This is the true story of how some then unknown California wines won the top honors against some of the top French wines at a blind tasting in Paris. The judges were all French wine experts and most had an extremely arrogant attitude about the tasting, believing the French wines would beat the California ones soundly. But that didn't happen! The tasting proved American wines could be as good as the greatest European wines and paved the way for quality wine to be produced all over the world.
Heroes
My dad, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Syd Barrett, Hank Williams, Stephen King, Jack Bauer (okay so he's a fictional character, but he's one bad motherfucker!)
Syd Barrett (R.I.P.)
Beatles
Radiohead
Ian Curtis of Joy Division (R.I.P.)
Hank Williams
Stephen King
Jack Fuckin' Bauer!
About me: I am the key to the lock in your house
That keeps your toys in the basement
And if you get too far inside
You'll only see my reflection
It's always best when the light is off
I am the pick in the ice
Do not cry out or hit the alarm
You know we're friends 'til we die
The CricketSoda Myspace Editor!
No, I don't live off the coast of Africa! This map is off. They assured me it would be more accurate soon.
Hell Ya! I'm sportin' my Heidi t-shirt right now! Chauncey and I were both staring at that pick last night thinking, Holy Shit! I used to drink my fair share of that beer too, in high school.
Thanks for the add! GUD (pronounced "good") is a print/pdf magazine of 200 pages of genre and literary fiction, poetry, and a splash of art. :) See our profile for information on reviews, freebies, and submission guidelines!
Hey there Rus! I was just checkin in to see if you were going to make it campin the weekend of the 7th! I know you have the new baby and all...but it was fun last year...so hope to see you there!
Syd Barrett (R.I.P.)
Beatles
Radiohead
Ian Curtis of Joy Division (R.I.P.)
Stephen King
Jack Fuckin' Bauer!
