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Music
..... 
I
love the Blues. I'm not a purist, my tastes run from Muddy
to SRV and
everything in between.
Ronnie
Earl is not a well known blues artist but one I really enjoy.
He was the lead player for a great jump blues band from Rhode
Island (of all places) called Room Full of Blues for years
until striking out on his own. I put a web
site together
for him years ago (check the bottom of the page).
Stevie
Ray Vaughan is another all time favorite. I have his
first album on vinyl. The first time I heard him on the
radio I
said to myself, "Before the end of the day I gotta find
out who this guy is!" I had a chance to see him at The
Toledo Zoo (of all places) but missed the performance, a
few years
later he was killed in a helicopter crash.
Robbin
Ford
John Hammond
The Grizwolds
(local Northwest Ohio)
Eddie
Shaw & The Wolf Gang: I used to sit in with Eddie
on harp when they would come to Howard's Club H in BG.
check out Blue
Suit Productions and Black
Swamp Blues Society
My three
sons have helped broaden my musical tastes and introduced
me to
folks like.
John Mayer
Gillian
Welch blue grass artist (Brother Where Art
Thou / I'll Fly Away), of late opening for Norah Jones. Went
to see her and David Rawlings play at the Paramont Theater
in
Ashland,
Kentucky. Great show (middle photo is Gillian, my son Steve,
and David Rawlings .... the "old guy" in the picture on the
right is me).
Paramont Theater / Ashland, Kentucky / April 2003
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Sloan
Ryan Adams
is great I hear a lot of Dylan and the Hawks with a taste
of Van Morrison in his stuff.
Bella
Fleck & The
Flecktones the most amazing banjo player you will ever
hear playing with the most amazing bassist, Victor Wooten,
with
an occasional Tuvan throat singer Congar Ol'Ondar, thrown
in for good measure. Grammy
nominee 17 times.
The White
Stripes - guy on guitar, girl maybe his wife, maybe not,
on drums
... great rough, raw, slide blues.
I also
like classical music. My favorite piece:
Meditation
from THAÏS by Jules Massenet
favorite
composer
Chopin
Books
......
I read
a lot of technical non-fiction related to the
rather technical hobbies described on this site. For recreational
reading I like historical fiction particularly of the nautical
variety and some science fiction (which used to be in a separate
section from fantasy in the good old days... sigh).
Patrick
O'Brian I can recommend without reservation. I've read
everything he's written. The Aubrey/Maturin Series was
described by Richard
Snow of the New York Times as "
The best historical novels ever written." There are
20
books in the series. If you decide to tackle them, by
all means read them in order! I got mine through the local
library and inter-library loans. A few are also available
on cassette and CD.
Master & Commander,
the first book in the series, is being made into a motion
picture coming out in 2003 staring Russell Crowe
as Jack Aubrey.
The Ramage
Series by Dudley Pope
and of
course
The Hornblower
Series by CS Forester
Here is
a good link for a list of nautical fiction references.
Any travel writing by Paul
Theroux and Bill
Bryson.
Film
...... 
Recently
I've enjoyed:
Donnie
Darko - It has been described as a cross between
Rushmore & 13
Monkees. Time travel and metaphysics. After you've seen the
movie check out a very interesting interpretation here .Favorite
quote from the movie: "I really question your commitment
to Sparkle Motion!":
We're also
big
Wes Anderson/Wilson
Brothers fans around here,
Bottle
Rocket
Rushmore - the last time I watched
this one was on my laptop on DVD, in a rainy train station
cafe very early in the morning in Manchester, England
with a pigeon standing on my table right next to the computer
for almost the entire time looking at me curiously with it's
head cocked to one side.
The Royal
Tenenbaums
Memento - the best film I've ever watched backwards.
The
Usual Suspects - who is KEYSER SOZE really? Read the script here.
Big Coen
Brothers fan too:
Fargo,
The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Love Christopher
Guest's Mockumentary stuff Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman
(the
bit with the My
Dinner With Andre' Action figures at the end killed me),
Best In Show, Like A Might Wind.
In terms
of the "classics" ....
Lawrence
of Arabia - one of my absolute top, all time favorites.
Day
the Earth Stood Still -
don't know if you can make a better Sci-Fi movie
than this Blade Runner is a close second.
A great
movie review site is Rotten
Tomatoes. You can enter your
zip code here and
get movies and show times for your area.
Last
changed
September 10, 2003
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