Anything that provides material for my pessimistic sense of humor.
Music
I like my music and I like songs. There is no type of music that I dislike, if it's done well. I like corny old songs from the early twentieth century, and I like heavy metal and other hard rock. But I also totally adore Abba.
My musical identity is "Ukulele Al," the last of the red hot hippies.
Movies
I rarely go to movies any more. After having been besotted by movies for much of my life. I lost interest about 10 years ago. I hate seeing movies in theaters -- the commercials in loud Dolby sound. I also hate not having a remote to flick away from or fast forward through the stuff that's boring or annoying me. That's why, if a movie seems interesting, I wait till it shows up on cable or DVD.
Television
I don't watch much fiction TV. I like documentary stuff like Discovery Channel, although there are some shows I like. I enjoyed and was impressed with The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Queer as Folk -- shows that seem to be more sophisticated in use of narrative than nearly any movie. I liked The Dead Zone for the way the visions are rendered. Recently I learned that I like House.
Books
I mostly read current events nonfiction. The most recent books I've read are Talking Right by Geoffrey Nunberg, Chasing Ghosts by Paul Rieckhoff (the best look there could possibly be at the reality of what the troops in Iraq are experiencing and doing), Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast...
I also read intelligent thrillers -- mostly on the bus going back and forth to work. My latest enthusiasm in that genre is Lee Child. Also James Lee Burke, possibly the best prose stylist writing today.
My all time favorite book would be Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
Heroes
Most of my heroes dead. That isn't what makes them heroes; I liked them before they became dead. Kurt Vonnegut, Johnny Cash, Abbie Hoffman, George Carlin (he's not dead), John Lennon. That's about it. I'm not much for heroes.
My dream is to play my electric ukulele through a stadium size sound system -- U2, Rolling Stones, Arrowsmith. I picked Banjo because the Role list has no ukulele.
About me: I'm a guy in early stage old age (I'm 62), married to a Filipina, working as an administrative assistant in a clinic that provides services to the mentally ill homeless.
I play rock and roll ukulele and accompany myself with singing, which I try to drown out by playing really loud. I've been doing this for over 40 years but never succeeded in getting rich and famous. My latest thing is learning to make movies and posting them on YouTube and, now, here on MySpace. Learning this has helped me through the last few months since my 36 year old son committed suicide. Geeking on computers is great for taking your mind off grief. I've got a blog that's here: http://www.paranoidpessimist.blogspot.com/ and will soon have a website that links things together here
www.creatividude.net
Who I'd like to meet: Someone who could make me rich and famous without having to be any more of an ***hole than I already am. I'd be glad sell out, but nobody is offering anything.
