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Tanya

a far from comprehensive list of miscellaneous stuff
tech

music

movies

tv

books

comedy

other stuff i like


     
visit my sweetie Philip's site at pgleason.com         

[OLD - needs to be revised] some favorite tech stuff:

Favorite/recommended Android apps

My MacBook Pro - Yeah I'm running Windows on it, old habits die hard, but it's a fabulous machine.

My G2x Android phone - Although it's starting to get long in the tooth, I love the Android OS and it's flexibity, along with the huge selection of apps, and T-Mobile's "4G" is fast and reliable.
(Still miss my former Treo 680 with its physical keyboard and the now defunct PalmOS, but the lack of 3G and WiFi finally forced me to switch.)

Podcasts: Three Guys On, The Black Guy Who Tips, Rantin' and Ravin' with Yamaneika and Friends, Alonzo Bodden's Who's Paying Attention?, and Airline Pilot Guy.
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some favorite music:

Tons of stuff, for a teeny smattering check out my now defunct Sound Clip of the Week page...

Also check out the web site I slave over maintain for fabulous musician Gary Lucas (can't you tell I didn't design it?).

favorite song of all time: Bernadette by the Four Tops - Holland-Dozier-Holland + James Jamerson and the rest of the The Funk Brothers + Levi Stubbs = brilliant!!

favorite concert: tie between Smokey Robinson at the Apollo Theatre (first time he performed there in 30 years!) and The Stooges with Iggy Pop at Roseland

internet radio:

Rhythm Revue with Felix Hernandez on Newark's WBGO-FM - On every Saturday at 10am NY time. Felix is the KING of old school R&B and soul, my *favorite* kind! Although I can tune in to this show locally, I'm listing it here for those outside the area. The rest of WBGO's programming is fantastic as well, tons of great jazz.

Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show on BBC 6music - On every Saturday at 6pm UK time. Craig (who you may know as 'Lister' from the tv show "Red Dwarf") cooks up a very funky brew each weekend. He plays old school, new stuff and things you may not expect. I've discovered so much great music through his show. Love him!

WFMU in New Jersey and WWUH in Connecticut are also well worth a listen
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favorite movie:

Bedazzled - the 1967 version, natch — Pete 'n Dud at their absolute best, and the last scene will completely blow yr. mind

some other favorites (in no particular order):
This is Spinal Tap (saw it in the theater when it came out!)
The Manchurian Candidate (original version!!)
Office Space - classic.
Five Corners - What a fabulous movie — John Turturro is one of my favorite actors of all time.
Trees Lounge - Buscemi is another HUGE favorite, and this film is a masterpiece. Plus, I actually know a guy that drove an ice cream truck on Long Island, oh my.
Jacques Tati's Mon Oncle and Playtime (but especially Mon Oncle) - Wow. What can I say? Tati was an absolute genius, I love how gentle and innocent Monsieur Hulot is, thrown into the world with hilarious results. Look at the SHOTS too, especially in Playtime, where an entire city was built for the film. Monsieur Hulot's Holiday is great too (inspiring Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean), but these two Tati films are my favorites.
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House - Cary Grant, swoon! But warning, some parts are definitely not PC by today's standards.
A Clockwork Orange, O Lucky Man!, If... - I'm a fool for M. McDowell. I actually saw O Lucky Man! at Lincoln Center with Malcolm in attendance - he did a talk and Q&A on the movie, he was fantastic!
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Some Like it Hot
Glengarry Glen Ross
A Room with a View - Wonderful and the only film I can think of with no female nudity, but full frontal male — of Julian Sands, no less
Lawrence of Arabia - Powerful, gorgeous, and amazing soundtrack
Dazed and Confused - It's a while before my time as a teenager, but this film captures 70s high school America beautifully
Standing in the Shadows of Motown - It's about time these guys got some recognition!
Marnie - I could list a bunch of Hitchcock movies here, and I'm a huge Cary Grant fan so it's a bit curious I would pick this film, but there's something about it that is so powerful. The storyline is fascinating, Sean Connery is excellent, and to me this is Tippi Hedren's best performance
Dune - Ok, it's been slagged off by just about everyone (including its own director due to studio meddling), but I love it. Perfectly cast.
And now, a blast from the past: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains! Yes, I first saw this cheesy hidden gem on USA Network's Night Flight (I think they played it every night for a year, lol). I got a copy of this completely unavailable film on DVD through eBay. Fantastic, featuring the likes of Paul Cook and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Paul Simonon of the Clash, Fee Waybill of The Tubes, and Ray Winstone from "Quadrophenia". Plus, lots o' grrrrrl power, and a brief uncredited performance by Brent Spiner!
Highlander - ok, it's a little uncool, kind of like being into progressive rock (which I am, lol), but I still like it! Hey, and Russell Mulcahy also directed all of those groovy Duran Duran videos in the 80s ;-)
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension - Wow. What can I say? saw it as a teen in the 80s, amazing stuff! Incredible weirdness, and so many then fairly unknown actors that went on to great success.
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[OLD - needs to be revised] teevee:

(former) favorite contemporary show:

Fringe! Yes, I am a little biased since my man Philip was on the crew, but I truly enjoy it. The principals are so well cast, writing is great, and Walter is an absolute treasure. I had the pleasure of meeting John Noble and in addition to being an amazing actor he's also such a sweetheart!

Some other currently (or former) running favorites:
House I still love Hugh Laurie in the show, but I have to admit I haven't kept up with it lately. Hugh is so convincing that it took *ages* for this huge Blackadder fan to figure out that House is Prince George in Blackadder the Third and Lieutenant George in Blackadder Goes Forth. Plus, I just love House's demeanor -- he's smart, and he tells it like it is. It reminds me of the first time I visited my doctor (who is actually a very sweet and caring person as well as being an excellent doctor) and he came in the exam room singing a little song about hating people. I immediately knew I had found the right doctor for me!
Dexter
I also love almost anything on PBS (Nova, American Masters, cool documentaries, anything narrated by Liev Schreiber, etc.) so I hope that balances out all the silly reality shows I watch, at least somewhat...
(this list incomplete, more to come soon...)

'classic' teevee shows:

Star Trek: original series and Voyager - I'll watch any Star Trek series but these two are my favorites
Kids in the Hall
Alien Nation - I'm still pissed that it was canceled!
Seinfeld - predictable, yeah...but it was a good show
The Wire
Rome
Deadwood
Almost Live - *please* tell me someone else remembers this show on Comedy Central out of Seattle, so freaking brilliant!
Wanda at Large - Damn stupid TV execs! Why did they cancel this show?!? Wanda Sykes is funny, she's smart, she's fabulous!

*Tons* of BBC shows:
The aforementioned Blackadder
Red Dwarf
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - the Hollywood movie...erm, I tried, I *really* tried, but I don't think I lasted 30 minutes. Yes, I'm a devotee of the book which says that Trillian is a brunette, but the blonde bubblehead yet insanely intelligent Trillian of the BBC series is just SO perfect...but that's only one example. It is so wrong. Biggest example: Marvin's huge bulbous head. Need I say more?
The Young Ones
Bottom - Oh my! (but it's hysterical) -- there's some YouTube stuff here
Monty Python - of course
Absolutely Fabulous - Lacroix, sweetie!
Mr. Bean - More Rowan Atkinson!
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some favorite books:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - all 5 books in the trilogy, amazing!!
From the Velvets to the Voidoids - Back in print! Celebrate all ye who couldn't get this formerly unavailable book
Please Kill Me - Very entertaining companion to ...Voidoids
A Wrinkle in Time - I know this is a children's book but I still love it
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - esoteric, but very cool
Despite the System: Orson Welles Versus the Hollywood Studios - very interesting and impeccably researched, I loved it. And here's a review from the New York Times that confirms my impressions.

I also love (auto)biographies of people I admire, particularly musicians

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my five favorite live comedy shows of all time, in no particular order:

George Carlin on the "You Are All Diseased" tour
Classic. Brilliant. My favorite comedian of all time.

Greg Giraldo at Caroline's in the 1990s
So fortunate that my friend Floyd (who was in the same fraternity with Greg in college) took me to this show. I would never heckle someone today, but this was also the show where I heckled Bill Maher for ragging on the NYC subway. You don't mess with NYC's public transporation!

Alonzo Bodden at Caroline's
My favorite living comedian! Best known for winning season 3 of Last Comic Standing, Alonzo ALWAYS brings the funny. Watch either of his Showtime specials, you will laugh your ass off! (I was at the taping for "Who's Paying Attention?", woohoo!) Alonzo's podcast is here -- RSS is https://audioboom.com/channels/4326768.rss.

Comedy Outliers in March 2014 at Webster Hall
The show where I first saw the incredible and hilarious Yamaneika Saunders! I hadn't heard of her before, and she completely destroyed her set. I particularly remember a long joke she did about running for exercise and then riding back on the bus, it just got funnier and funnier as it went along. Her podcast is here -- RSS is http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:87846650/sounds.rss. The FUNNIEST episode is MY NAME IS MACARONI AND CHEESE, go to approximately 33 mins. in, you will be laughing hysterically through it!!
It was recently announced that she's doing a Comedy Central Half-Hour Special!! She's worked so hard for many years and I'm so happy!
This was also the first show where I saw the fantastic J-L Cauvin live! J-L's podcast is here -- RSS is http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:87846650/sounds.rss.
Kudos to Brandon Collins and Mike Brown (both also hilarious!) for running one of the BEST comedy shows around -- it happens every month, if you're in NYC check it out. They have a podcast here -- RSS is http://comedyoutliers.podomatic.com/rss2.xml.

The Decepticomics at New York Comedy Club in March 2017
A great comedy troupe of five excellent comics: the aforementioned Mike Brown, Dillon Stevenson, John Minus, Gordon Baker-Bone, and Cerrome Russell. This show was fire!! It was hosted by the awesome Rae Sanni and also included a set by Shalewa Sharpe that brought the house down! Everyone killed it, and the crowd was GREAT. So much fun!
They're currently on tour, check here to see if they're performing near you.

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some other stuff i like:

Eric Bogosian is just completely amazing. Anything he does is fantastic, but his solo performances are like nothing else I've ever seen. There was a great quote on his web site that described one of his solos as "pure unadulterated filth". Maybe so, but he just says the things that we all think but would never admit to. I just came up with the perfect description of his solos -- it's like holding up a mirror to popular American culture, warts and all. Scary, funny, disturbing...

Cruises! I completed my 15th cruise in December 2014 on the Celebrity Constellation

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