Q : Obsessions

ualities of Western pop culture have appealed to me at different stages in my life, and I've been somewhat obsessed at various times. I've been told that I have strong opinions. Hmm.
I guess, like anyone else, when I become really interested in something, I get REALLY interested, until some new obsession comes along to replace it. The selection of links on this page will change quite often, I suppose...
Click on the thumbnail illustrations to get to the links.

Evan & Jaron:
Rolling Stone called Atlanta duo Evan and Jaron Lowensteins' sound "equal parts Simon and Garfunkel and the Rembrandts with a dash of Ben Folds Five." Whatever. I loved their semi-new album We've Never Heard of You Either. Their website is pretty slick.

Michael Ian Elias:
The first time I heard Michael Elias sing was at a small venue Jewish concert and he blew me away. He has a CD out called "Keep The Light Shining" that's pretty good. Read about his interesting spiritual journey on his website.

Stomp:
I was in Los Angeles on vacation last winter and I went to a percussion show called 'Stomp.' It was at the UCLA Wadsworth Theater and is also playing on Broadway in New York. It's really taken off since then, and it deserves the recognition: it is one of the most creative and entertaining live shows I have ever seen.

David Bowie:
David Bowie's music had a huge influence on me during my college years. When I hear an old Bowie tune, I am transported back to College Green in Philadelphia, studying for a calculus final with my walkman strapped on...
"If you say run, I'll run with you.
And if you say hide, we'll hide."
-"Let's Dance"
David and I coincidentally share the same birthday (along with Elvis Presley). I feel very connected to his music. Check out a sketch (176KB) of a Musician Magazine cover of Bowie that I did while I was still in college.

'The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in our selves'

William Shakespeare:
This page on the Bard covers everything, I mean EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about his works. The search function for each of his plays is extremely useful if you need to remember who hast sayeth what. I love this site.
If you've fallen in love with Hamlet, check out Ian Delaney's excellent site, which also includes a comprehensive list of links for fellow Shakespeare junkies.

Peter Himmelman:
Peter Himmelman is an incredible folk/rock singer-songwriter. My current favorite song is Regular Daydreams from his rock-opera album, Skin. Peter has three very good fan-sites up and I am currently working on a little Himmelman-corner of my own.
Still waiting for the new album.

Monte Warden:
Monte Warden is a largely unnoticed, highly underrated combination of country, rock, and pop singer-songwriter from Austin Texas. This snippet of his QuickTime video "Give My Heart a Break" is worth the download time (or watch it in RealVideo...no wait). Stumbling across it made me buy his CD's. Monte will be coming out with a new album on February 23rd called A Stranger to Me Now (formerly entitled "Another Try").

Dean Koontz:
This is a pretty decent site for Dean Koontz , one of the most talented storytellers in the horror genre. Check out Random House's site for Mr. Koontz as well. It features a collection of quotes from "The Book of Counted Sorrows," a book that Mr. Koontz often cites, which, interestingly enough, doesn't exist. Once I started reading Koontz novels, I couldn't stop. They're sort of a hybrid between Dick Francis and Stephen King. Speaking of Stephen King...

Stephen King:
"I still believe in the resilience of the human heart and the essential validity of love; I still believe that connections between people and the spirits which inhabit us sometimes touch. I still believe that the cost of these connections is horribly, outrageously high...and I still believe that the value received far outweighs the price which must be paid. I still believe, I suppose, in the coming of the White and in finding a place to make a stand...and defending that place to the death. They are old-fashioned concerns and beliefs, but I would be a liar if I did not admit that I own them. And that they still own me."

-Stephen King, Four Past Midnight

King has gotten a bad rap as a "blood-and-guts" guy, but I think he is a brilliant, serious writer who enjoys using horror as a vehicle. Many people aren't aware of his "non-horror" writings, such as The Shawshank Redemption (yup, that's him) and The Dead Zone (not what you think). This is quite a comprehensive page, offering interesting FAQs, as well as other King links. As one King webmaster says, "Feel free to browse around, and try not to get lost in his imagination..."

Sheryl Crow:
A friend of mine recently pointed out that all of the artists, singers, songwriters, novelists, etc. that I admire are men. Well, I have always been a huge fan of Sheryl Crow. In a pop music scene dominated by the likes of female musicians such as Celine Dion and (heaven help us) Mariah Carey, Crow blasts through as an excellent lyricist and an unusual vocalist. A while back, "Strong Enough" was my theme song (a la Ally McBeal). I think one of the measures of modern music's artistry is when the texture of the melody matches the mood of the lyrics. Sheryl Crow's "Home" is a great example of this technique. Crow's music has real integrity.