- The XanthW Series, Piers Anthony
- Footloose
- Stomp
- “Smooth Criminal” by Michael JacksonW
- A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
- Fight Club: A Novel, Chuck Palahniuk
- Christ of Saint John of the CrossW, Salvador DaliW
- The Office: The Complete BBC Collection
- Derren Brown
- Naomi Klein
art books movies politics theater tv
- Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger
- Finding Neverland Soundtrack, Jan A. P Kaczmarek
- Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet
- E. E. cummingsW (!!!)
- Spring Awakening
- Regina Spektor (espec. ”On The Radio” and “Consequence of Sound“)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- John Patrick ShanleyW
- Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli
- The Royal Tenenbaums
Hannah Mae is my cousin, and I am so excited to post her list that I’m not even going to wait for Family (1st) Fridays!
- The Jerk
- The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, Paul Goble
- “Series of Dreams,” Bob Dylan*
- The Red Pony, John Steinbeck
- OdettaW
- In Living Color*
- RumiW
- Mermaids
- Happy Days, Samuel Beckett
- Nina Simone – Live at Montreux 1976 (follow the link to watch right now!)
*follow to youtube!
- The Paladium in LA in the 40′s, hosted all the big bands (“I was there on many weekends: Glen MillerW, Tommy DorseyW, Benny GoodmanW, Artie ShawW“)
- Songs: “I’ll Never Smile Again;” ”Begin the Beguine;” (“I’m still trying to play my clarinet like A. Shaw! ha!”)
- I was president of UCLA’s Men’s Glee Club in ’47 – ’48 and we did Shows in Royce Hall – My American Cousin and H.M.S. Pinafore! Great fun!
- Boy’s Life magazine
- Building – Tree house and also digging a cave in a vacant lot!
- Body Surfing in Santa Monica Bay and skating on local sidewalks
- getting a bicycle at Christmas
- Travel – we drove to New York and back 1936-37 (Dad’s work took us there and back)
I thought it would be nice to post my grandfather’s list for Family 1st Fridays in July; a World War II Veteran, he is still inspiring in a myriad of ways! Thanks, Granddad, for supporting the Magpie List!
- “Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard,” WilcoW
- The Dark Is Rising, Susan Cooper
- German
- Danish Butter Cookies
- BockW
- Devotion to the Cross, Pedro Calderon de la BarcaW
- Scotland Yard Family Game
- Contact Mics
- Mille Bornes Card Game
- “Madame George” Van MorrisonW
- Citizen Kane
- Romeo and Juliet, William ShakespeareW
- Ulysses, James Joyce
- piano concerto no. 1, Tchaikovsky*
- Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
- My Parents
- The courage to be mild
- Mac Computer
- German Board Games
- Richard BurtonW
*follow the link to listen to Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto no. 1 on youtube!
- Fight Club
- Six Feet Under
- Amelie
- The Pavilion, Craig Wright
- Friday Night Lights
- American Beauty
- Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott
- Choke, Chuck Palahniuk
- Hamlet, William Shakespeare
- Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums – it’s a toss up
- To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
- Withnail and I
- Home for the Holidays
- His Dark Materials Trilogy, Philip Pullman
- Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
- The Syringa TreeW, Pamela Gien
- “Life Uncommon,” Jewel*
- Making Hay, John Jeppson
- Sweet Honey In The Rock
- Shakespeare
*follow the link to watch Jewel sing “Life Uncommon” on youtube!
- Our Lady of 121st Street, Stephen Adly Guirgis
- The Wizard of Oz
- The Office
- Twelfth NightW, William Shakespeare
- Cabaret
- Hello, Dolly!
- Diet Coke
- Barbra StreisandW
- DisneylandW*
- To Kill a Mockingbird ,Harper Lee
*we went to Disneyland for this week’s Magpie Minute; check it out!
- “Why?” Annie Lennox
- “Vogue,” Madonna
- The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac
- Taboo (musical)W, Boy George
- Leigh BoweryW
- “The End,” Jason Reeves
- Take It Like A Man, Boy George
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- “Friday I’m In Love,” The Cure
- “If You Forget Me,” Pablo Neruda
“it was soooooo diffucult limiting myself to 10 – I made it as well rounded as I possibly could…”
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Boxer, The National
- The Mercy Seat, Neil LaBute
- Richard III, William Shakespeare
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Martin McDonagh
- There Will Be Blood
- Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
- It’s Blitz!, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- That Mitchell and Webb Look*
- Robert Wilson’s Woyzeck
- Breaking The Waves
- The Famished Road, Ben Okri
- Valley Girl (the movie!)*
- Valley Girl (the sound track!)**
- Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy
- Democracy Now!
- Abbey Road
- REDCAT
- Blue Shoe, Anne Lamott
” *I think this was the first movie I ever recorded onto VHS off of HBO. We watched it every day for about a year.
**consequently, I memorized the soundtrack.”
- James Taylor’s Greatest Hits (“in constant rotation with Willie Nelson’s Stardust“)
- Cinema Paradiso
- La Cantatrice Chauve (The Bald Soprano), Eugene IonescoW
- The Glass Family Stories, J. D. Salinger
- Energy, Operation Ivy
- Weetzie Bat, Francesca Lia Block
- La Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain (Amelie)
- Funeral, Arcade Fire
- “Midnight Train To Georgia,” Gladys Knight & the Pips
- Love Is a Mix Tape, Rob Sheffield
“These items, for one reason or another, were catalysts in my ever changing perspective of life. Mostly in chronological order.”
- Nikosi Sikelele
- kora music of Mamadou Diabate
- “any good pipe and drum band” (eg. Edinburgh Military Tattoo!)
- Henri Rousseau’s jungle paintings
- San Francisco Saxophone Quartet
- Opus the penguinW from Bloom County
- watercolors from the original The Story of Babar books
- paintings and sculptures of George LilangaW
- perfectly fried okra
- Angels in America, Tony Kushner
- The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker
- Hamlet, William Shakespeare
- “Hit ‘Em Up,” Tupac Shakur*
- silence, e.e. cummings
- Verdi’s Requiem, Guiseppe Verdi*
- Bedroom in ArlesW, Vincent van Gogh
- Check Your Head, Beastie Boys
- Charles BukowskiW
- The Garden of Eden, Ernest Hemingway
- Ode to Joy, Ludwig van Beethoven*
- Presto (Summer) from The Four Seasons, Antonio Vivaldi*
*watch and listen! (especially Ode to Joy…)
“I put eleven, because I could not retract anything, but I also didn’t want to add anything after eleven. So, I think my magpie list has eleven. I hope that doesn’t break any rules. And if it does, please let me re-do it, so I can subtract the one that really should be retracted, which could take several hours of epic self scrutiny.”
- Ohad Benchertrit
- red lipstick
- raw milk
- barmW
- synchronicity
- asynchronicity
- Frank Stitt
- your heart within my heart (?)
- Sista Nella Flo
- Milo Minderbinder
- Mac Wellman
- Joan JettW
- Pat BenatarW
- Billy IdolW
- Lady GagaW
- Blink 182W
- Le TigreW
- Cat PowerW
- Death Cab For CutieW
- Michelle BranchW (“before she went country”)
- Annie LennoxW
- ParamoreW
- Johnny CashW
- Nine Inch NailsW
- FlyleafW
- Rent (musical)W, and Rent, the movie!
- Les Miserables (musical)W
- The Phantom of The Opera (musical)W
- Cats (musical)W
- Chicago (musical)W
- Hedwig and The Angry Inch (musical)W
- The Rocky Horror ShowW
- Walk the Line
- Gia
- Avatar
- The Runaways
“…and many many many more. Too many to name.”
I found Megan on youtube — watch her garage performances in the Magpie Blog! (No, seriously. Girl can sing.)