Mark H.

The Replacements, Bruce Springsteen, early REM, U2, Aimee Mann, The Turtles, The Beatles, Tift Merritt, Amy Rigby, Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, Richard Thompson, Madness, Sarah McLachlan...heck, this could take a while...and now for somethings completely different: Celtic folk; classical/Romantic; traditional jazz; crooners such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald; musical theater of the Sondheim/"Secret Garden"/"Les Miz" variety....hey, it might be easier to say what I don't like: Pretty much anything that appears on "American Idol."

Again, this is almost too long to list, but I'll pick a sampler few that I've re-read recently: "The Water-Method Man" by John Irving. "A Patchwork Planet" by Anne Tyler. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain. "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" by E.A. Poe. "Thud" by Terry Pratchett. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. "Last Call" by Tim Powers. "Lamb (The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Pal)" by Christopher Moore., Willy Shakes, Irving, Pratchett, Tyler, Powers, Moore, Tim Dorsey, Dorothy Parker, James Lee Burke....many more.

OK, here's looking at some DVDs I own and love, in no particular order: "Young Frankenstein, " "Monty Python and the Holy Grail, " "Excalibur, " "The Natural, " "Field of Dreams, " "My Man Godfrey, " "The Thin Man" (sure, the whole series, but mainly the first two), "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, " "Raising Arizona, " "Barton Fink, " "The Hudsucker Proxy, " "Time Bandits, " "The Fisher King, " "Blade Runner, " "Cinderella" (1965 version), "Chicago, " "Donnie Darko, " "It's a Wonderful Life, " "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, " "The Lord of the Rings" (full deal), "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986 musical), "Mary Poppins, " "Rear Window, " "Vertigo"....my fingers hurt

Don't own a TV now, but when I did: "The Simpsons, " "Frank's Place" and "Twin Peaks." Seen a few episodes -- at my brother's -- recently, of "Boondocks" and "Family Guy" that rocked.

Theater (writing, performing, directing, watching), rock 'n' roll and other live music (playing, writing more than spectating; I'm in a couple of bands), writing fiction, swimming, some outdoors stuff, road trips, hanging with friends a'course., I think we covered this in "other interests, " but I don't consider any of them hobbies in the old-fashioned sense. More like passions.

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The Tuscaloosa News, The Northwest Florida Daily News

University of Alabama

Tuscaloosa Academy

To paraphrase Groucho, I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member. , But I did co-found The Rude Mechanicals, a summer Shakespeare group now entering its fifth year ("As You Like It" and probably "Taming of the Shrew" this season), and co-founded a number of rock 'n' roll bands (The Damn Dirty Apes, The Crying Jags, The Corvairs) and one folk-y band (The Rude Mechanicals Mass Choir and Combined Orchestra; a spinoff of the theatrical gang).