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When time permits and I am not trying to catch up with lost sleep I have
other things that I like to do. Recently, I have been trying to make
time
for these indulgences.
- Martial Arts/Sports: I have studied a number of different
arts. But being a student and moving away to school prevents much long
term work in one thing. After finding a teacher to learn from inevitably
they or I have to move on. Anyway listed below are the arts/sports that
I still do. If these are not interesting then try here.
- Music: My music taste is very broad. Living with
various
roommates in college gave me an appreciation for variety of music
(everything from taiwanese pop to musicals). However, if you define my
musical tastes by my sparse CD collection you may get a different idea.
Here is a break down of my CD collection.
- Classical music. Stuff from
Bach and
Mozart
to Tchaikovsky
and Mendelssohn
, and things inbetween.
- Old Rock. Things like The Beattles,
Badfinger, and
Steele
Dan.
- 80's Rock. This is what I grew up on. Asia, Heart,
Police, Queen, Billy Joel
etc.
Hey, does anyone out there know where I can get my hands on a GTR cd?
- Contemperary. These are the groups that started up or got famous
within the '90's. Cranberries,
Toad the Wet
Sprocket, Better
than Ezra, etc.
- Humor. The likes of Weird
Al and
The Bobs
- Games: In high school I used to play lots of games, now,
not so much...infact almost not at all.
- Cards. My favorite is Bridge and a close second is Magic.
- Board and Stratigy. In high school and before, lots of Star Fleet Battles,
Supremacy, and Ogre.
- Roleplaying. Mostly Hero
System
games, but I did RoleMaster, D&D, Traveller,
and many others.
- Computer. Reality is hard enough, why deal with virtual
reality?...
-
- Reading: I read too much, but not really for pleasure. I
read mostly two things: technical stuff, and crap. Once in a while a
friend or relative points me to a book with actual literary merit.
- Technical Journals. JPC, JCP, Phys Rev, Phys Rev Lttr, etc
- Comic Books. Books of Magic
and Usagi
Yojimbo are my favorites.
- If I get lucky and have some time I do enjoy science fiction. My
current favorite author is David Brin
- I also have read quite a bit of
Shakespeare. I have to say that the Bard is the best writer I've
come across.
- Movies: I really don't see that many movies any more. When I
do, its usually via video tape. In general, what I want from movies are
a good story, good character developement, and good acting. I'm not
really enamored by special effects, although they do enhance the visual
presentation.
- Good Science fiction. While the FX's are getting better, the
stories seem to be getting worse. I really enjoyed the Star
Wars movies, most of the Star Trek movies, Aliens, both
2001 and 2010, and Blade Runner.
- Thrillers. Those movies that explore the darker side of man and make
your spine shiver, I also watch often. Silence of
the Lambs and Seven
are the best examples I've seen.
- Spy movies. Out smarting the bad guys, women in slinky outfits, and
those high tech gagets...got love those gagets. The movies that come to
mind are the Bond
flicks, 3 Days of the Condor, and Sneakers.
- Action/Martial Arts films. Guns blazing, sword play, or good old
punching and kicking, are things that we want when we watch one of these
films. high body count is also a plus. plot, realism, character
development can go out the door...we want stunts and fight. However, a
good story can make up for bad action. The best action movies today come
out of
Hong Kong. Although,
Akira
Kurosawa has done my favorites. Of course there is always Bruce
Lee. As far as American movies go, the first Highlander, the
Lethal Weapon series,
Indian
Jones series, Broken
Arrow, many of Erol Flynn's
films. Maybe I
like Broken Arrow because it was directed by John Woo (see Hong Kong movies)
- Romantic Comedies. Behind every cynic there is a hopeless
romantic...that's me. Steve
Martin has done a few films in this area,
Roxanne, LA story, All of Me, and The Lonely Guy, to name a few. Other
movies include, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and almost
every Fred
Astaire and Cary Grant movie.
- Animation. I guess most people are familiar with Japanese Anime. Of
that, my favorites are Patlabor
and Ranma. However,
there are many other
good animations out there, Wizards, Lords of the Ring, anything with
Wallace and Gromit.
- Cult Classics. The really bizzar films that make you laugh and
wonder what they were on when they came up with the idea for the film. Blues Brothers, Dr.
Strangelove, Buckaroo
Banzai, and Brazil.
- Everything else. This is where the rest of the films go. Movies
that don't have enough fight (or too much plot) for it to be an action
movie, like Princes
Bride,
Crimson Dawn, Hunt For Red October, The Fugitive, and The Court Jester.
Or movies that are too funny to be a horror/thriller like Tremors. And
movies that are funny but have too much drama to be only a comedy, like
Dead Poet's Society.
- TV: I guess I do watch too much TV for my own good. I'm
trying to cut down.