The Desert Island... Expanded Version

[stlukesguild]

OK... we have all seen the old standby question what 5, 10, 15 books would you take to the proverbial dessert island. So Let's try an expanded version.

Select the following for your desert island get-away:

12 Books
12 works of music/recordings
12 Films/DVDs
3 other "luxuries"... items of your choice

And do tell us why you made the selections you did.

We'll naturally assume that our desert island is supplied with a DVD/CD player and a steady supply of electricity.

[Helga]

This I like...

OK, 12 books:

Metamorphosis- Ovid because it's a lot of different stories for different occasions
Don Quixote-Cervantes It is such an interesting and funny book that I doubt I'll ever read again unless I'm stuck on an island
Complete Oscar Wilde-Wilde I just love him and haven't finished the complete works I bought a few years ago
Complete Shakespeare-Shakespeare same as above
W.H Auden complete poetry-Auden You need a little poetry in your life!
Candide-Voltaire funny and wise
The Farewell waltz-Milan Kundera I could read this book a million times and always love it
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams Why not?
American Gods-Neil Gaiman so interesting and good
The Stranger- Albert Camus One of my ultimate favorite books
Short story collection- Hemingway There is no life without Hemingway
Ulyssus- James Joyce haven't read it and a desert island gives me the opportunity

12 cd's or vinyl ( I am sure there is a record player available)

Rubber Soul- the Beatles (vinyl) my favorite album with them
Bona Drag- Morrissey (vinyl) his early works are really good
Push the sky away- Nick Cave his new album is fantastic
Magnolia- Amee Mann just a great CD
B-sides and Rarities- Nick Cave a great compilation set
Queen of Denmark- John Grant his lyrics are just great
Pale Green ghosts- John Grant same as above
Years of Refusal- Morrissey because something is squeezing my skull
Nighttiming- Coconut Records I just love him
Davy- Coconut Records same reason
Lie Down in the light- Bonnie Prince Billie my favorite cd of his
Sketches for my sweetheart the drunk- Jeff Buckley, his last, unfinished CD, there is just something about artists who die on the top

12 films

How to loose friends and alienate people just a really good movie with my favorite actor
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has been my favorite movie for years
The legend of 1900 another favorite of many years
James dean collection, three movies all at once, one of my most prized collections
The Invention of lying it's just very funny
Deep Space 9 complete series my favorite ST
Bored to Death complete series I just love that show and wish it hadn't been cancelled
Back to the Future complete all 3 movies this is just something you want to watch again and again
Firefly all episodes well I watch it like once every year
Serenity what is Firefly without Serenity?
Meaning of Life how else would I know?
Wrath of Kahn it's my favorite ST movie

OK 3 luxury items... now it gets hard
Coffee and lots of it
my laptop
my grandpa chair

Hope my collections and complete works isn't braking any rules...

I think I have fulfilled my duties here.

[Indomitable]

12 Books

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: One of the best American novels I've read. It's an excellent satire, yet the novel also functions as a complex exploration of the human condition, something that most contemporary satires lack.
Cat's Cradle: Vonnegut's best novel.
A Confederacy of Dunces: My favorite novel from the time period.
Frankenstein (1818): I never cease to discover something new on each reread from this novel, and the description alone guarantees its place on the list.
Jane Eyre: Excellent story of an individual's quest to find acceptance without sacrificing her integrity
King Lear: Although I love most of Shakespeare's plays, the surrealistic atmosphere of this and its handling of relationships earns it the spot as my favorite tragedy.
Mrs. Dalloway: Woolf's genius shines throughout this novel. It was the novel that introduced me to Woolf, and it helped me discover an entire era of literature that I had previously remained apathetic to. Its layers of depths ensure that one discovers multiple new aspects of it on each reread.
Othello: This is the tragedy that made me fall in love with Shakespeare. Sentimental attachments aside, Iago remains one of my favorite antagonists of all time.
Requiem for a Dream: An overlooked masterpiece that explores the American Dream and American life incredibly well
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: My favorite modern play
Tender is the Night: This is my favorite novel by Fitzgerald. It contains far more flaws than The Great Gatsby, yet it still achieves a resonance that it never achieved.
We: This is my favorite dystopian novel, for it contains interesting characters, something most lack.



12 Albums

I'm not sure what to type for each of the albums. They're all by my favorite artists?

Back to Black
Cheap Thrills
Dark Side of the Moon
Donny Hathaway
Frank
Home Again
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
Kind of Blue
Let It Be
Lonerism
Pearl
The Wall



12 DVDs

30 Rock (Seasons 1-3): The show was in its prime during this time.
Arrested Development (Seasons 1-4; 4 when it comes out): Funniest and the best show I've ever seen
Community (Seasons 1-3): Second favorite show. The characters are developed in a way that's rare for television, even if the fourth season is mediocre at best
Donnie Darko: Favorite movie. While the style is great, the fact that it deals with its themes in a complex manner earns it its spot.
Requiem for a Dream: Favorite movie adaption. It's one of the few movies that is a worthy adaption of the source material.



Other

Journal: To record my thoughts and observations
Bed: To have a comfortable object to rest on
Container: To store my various possessions

[mortalterror]

12 Books

1.KJV Bible
2.Complete Shakespeare
3.My Revised Anthology of Favorite Literature "Mortalterror's Golden Treasury" (The old one is barely more than 200 pages in a 3-ring binder. The new one is almost 500 pages and still growing in a text file on my computer.) It's full of random poems I like, my eleven or twelve favorite short stories, quotes from novels, and 20 page excerpts of famous epic poems. If I were taking it with me somewhere permanently I'd bind it into a hard cover book, and maybe sprinkle some illustrations in for good measure.
4.The Shahnameh by Firdawsi
5.The Divine Comedy by Dante
6.Ernest Hemingway: Four Novels (Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics) The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms, The Old Man and the Sea
7.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Funniest book ever.
8.The Iliad or the Odyssey. I like the Iliad more but the Odyssey is about a dude escaping a series of islands.
9.Harvard Classics Nine Greek Dramas includes the complete Oresteia, Prometheus Bound, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Hippolytus, The Bacchae, and the Frogs.
10.The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas - because I like a little fast paced action/adventure from time to time.
11.Ovid's Metamorphoses- I've already got a lot of him in my anthology but he is my favorite poet.
12.Baudelaire, Flowers of Evil- I think I'd enjoy the dark sensuous beauty and cynicism of Baudelaire more than the heroics of Beowulf, and since I already have so many plays I can't justify giving the last place to Racine.

[Emil Miller]

These choices are somewhat arbitrary but are those that have impressed me
with their artistry during my lifetime. Obviously there are many others that might
be included but these are the ones that have been among the most impressive.

Books:

Le Rouge et le Noir...... Stendahl

L'Éducation sentimentale...Flaubert

Les Célibataires ......... Montherlant

L'Assommoir ................. Zola

Bel Ami .........................Maupassant

La Bête Humaine.............Zola

Buddenbrooks.................Mann

Der Zauberberg...............Mann

Of Human Bondage..........Maugham

The Moon and Sixpence....Maugham

Blondes Don't Die Easy....Brad Wiggly

It's past my bedtime and I'll complete the questionaire tomorrow

[Darcy88]

Good call with the Stendhal Emil. I adore that book deeply.

Books:

- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I never tire of the characters and the story. Colonel Aureliano Buendia is on my pantheon of most cherished literary characters.
- The Bible. A great repository of wisdom and events the significance of which to western thought and culture cannot be over-emphasised.
- Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence. One of my favourite writers and this is one of his longer and more complex works.
- Moby Dick by Melville. Sublime and profound prose, an exhilarating read plot-wise.
- Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. A dynamic book in which the personal and the political are revealed in all their many facets, in their uniqueness and their intersection.
- The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche. A great book blending poetry with philosophy and one tailor made for solitude. Contains his famous phrase "God is dead," as well as a poetic exhortation to "live dangerously."
- The Three Pillars of Zen by Philip Kapleau. With all that free time on my hands I might as well pursue enlightenment. For me this book beats out any primary sacred text as a manual for the attainment of spiritual self-mastery. It can change your life.
- Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Grand in scope, revelatory, and I feel a deep affinity with Whitman, with his way of thinking and seeing and being.
- Histories by Herodotus. Because I'm an ancient history fiend and this book details some of the most riveting historical episodes mankind has acted in. Themistocles stands as one of the great figures in history.
- Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes. One of my all time favourite books. Full of humour, adventure, truth. Inexhaustible. I've never laughed as hard out loud at any book more than I have at this one.
- The Divine Comedy by Dante. I haven't read it yet but it seems to top or be near the top of most people's lists of greatest literary works of all time and I really want to read it.
- Plutarch's Lives. Some of the most entertaining reading I've encountered. My favourites are the lives of Pericles, Demetrius and Antony, the last of which was one of the main sources for Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.

Films:

- There Will Be Blood. Daniel Day's performance in this film is superb, intense and engrossing like none other I've seen. The harsh beauty of the sere desert landscapes shown throughout are hauntingly marvellous.
- Brick. I just love this movie. The writing, the score, the characters, the visuals.... the whole spectacle never gets old for me.
- Gone With the Wind. My reason for this comes down to one word: EPIC. Clarke Gable is the man is this.
- Into the Wild. I find the main character and his journeying fascinating. Great adaptation of a great book about a great young man.
- Lost in Translation. - Johannson is a mega-babe, Bill Murray really delivers, and the Tokyo setting is bustlingly afire with light and life.
- Dr Strangelove. All time classic. Some of the funniest scenes ever. A really fun watch.
- The Deer Hunter. Another epic. Deniro and Walken at their best. The way the movie is so brilliantly paced you are shockingly thrust alongside the main characters into the utter horror of war. Unlike other war movies you do not become numb to violence and death in DH. There is a slow tense build up to it and then afterwards a long denouement in which the disaster is truly brought home. The Russian roulette scenes are some of the most intense scenes I've ever seen.
-The Wizard of Oz. I must have watched this movie 500 times as a child. I had a huge crush on Judy Garland. So imaginatively conceived and carried out, a great experience all around. I haven't watched it in years but just out of nostalgia it makes my top 12.
-The Godfather Part 2. I'm not as big on part 1 as a lot of others are, but part 2 is a sheer pleasure to watch, especially the portions with Deniro as a young Vito Corleone on the ascendant in the criminal underworld.
-Y Tu Mama Tambien. Adventure. Mexico. Sex. Lots more sex. Funny. Sad. Has everything.
-Sopranos season 2 The best season of the best television series ever made.
-The Pianist This movie really moves me. A masterpiece from beginning to end.

Music:

- Tristan Und Isolde by Wagner. The prelude gets this onto my list. Most poignant piece of music I've ever heard.
- The White Album by The Beatles. Solid from top to bottom. My favourite album from them.
- The Last Waltz by The Band. Great rock n roll. Features performances from Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan among others.
- Folklore by Nelly Furtado. Maybe my favourite pop album. The song Try has a lot of sentimental meaning for me.
- Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine. Their masterful self-titled debut album featuring ingenious riffs, meaningful lyrics and those vocals that sound off like hand-grenades accompanied by firecrackers. Makes me want to smash things - purposefully.
- The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. One word - Summer.
- The Bends by Radiohead. My favourite album from one of my favourite bands.
- Recent Songs by Leonard Cohen. Canada's Bob Dylan. One of the greatest song-writers ever.
- October by U2. I love U2. They have more than one album which could've made my top 12. This is my favourite. The track Tomorrow is amazing to me.
- Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos. So many stellar tracks on this album. Top notch female vocalist.
- The Velvet Underground and Nico Simply one of the greatest albums ever made. Sunday Morning and Heroin are my two favourites off it but every track is solid.
- Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan. Needs no explanation.

Three other items:

- A busty raven-haired latin beauty with a darkish complexion. You know, to talk to....
- An acoustic guitar
- Life-time supply of ground coffee.

I really have to do a few honourable mentions for books:

Selected Writings of Edgar Allen Poe.
Complete Works of Arthur Rimbaud
The Complete Dialogues of Plato
The Wisdom of Lao Tse

I could swap these for any of the above 12 and not regret it.

[papayahed]

12 books
Junky - William Burroughs
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Complete works of Shakespeare (Seems like a cheat but you take what you can get)
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Midnight in the garden of good and evil - John Berendt
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Stand - Stephen King
NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe - Terence Dickinson
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Six Easy Pieces and Six not so easy pieces - Richard Feynman
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

Don't judge me!

I'll complete the rest later

[stlukesguild]

Well now that we have a number of participants I'll throw in my own two-cents:

Music:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/Music1_zps4991a899.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/Music1_zps4991a899.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/Music2_zpsc22c0b56.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/Music2_zpsc22c0b56.jpg.html)

1. J.S. Bach- The Well Tempered Clavier- Bach is my single favorite composer and this work... a virtual school of keyboard and counterpoint... is one of his towering masterworks and suits my more contemplative and formal/analytical mind.

2. Heinrich Ignaz Biber- Mystery (or Rosary) Sonatas- These baroque sonatas for violin rival Bach's own. Biber audaciously changes the tuning of the violin for each sonata achieving an incredible variety.

3. G.F. Handel- As a great fan of choral music I can think of no better choral work... although I'd admittedly miss Haydn's Creation

4. W.A. Mozart- Die Zauberflöte- It's Mozart! It's the most incredible wealth of melodies. It's magical, fun, and simply delicious! And did I mention it's Mozart?!

5. L.v. Beethoven- 9th Symphony- My single favorite symphony. I must have some 12 or so versions... but Karajan's & Ferenc Fricsay's continually stand out

6. Wagner- Der Ring des Nibelungens- The single most grandiose musical achievement ever... and I get some 15 or 20 hours of lush music.:biggrin5:

7. Faure- Requiem- I definitely need something French... and I absolutely love Faure's Requiem (paired here with Debussy's lovely Images)

8. Richard Strauss- Salome- Strauss is my single favorite Modern (20th century) composer. Here I get both lush Post-Romanticism and a Modernist bite... and Theresa Strata IS Salome.

9. Duke Ellington- Never No Lament- I can't go without some variety... without some jazz... without some Ellington. This is perhaps the finest collection of Ellington's music.

10. Miles Davis- Kind of Blue- Arguably the greatest jazz record if not the greatest recording of new music of the century

11. Johnny Cash- I definitely need some country music... and Johnny Cash IS country music... with a voice like an Old Testament prophet. Choosing one record was damn near impossible. Ultimately I went with my first and possibly favorite of the brilliant "American Recordings" from late in his career.

12. The Rolling Stones- Let it Bleed- You saw this one coming, didn't you. The Rolling Stones are Rock and Roll.

Books:

1. The King James Bible- With this one book I get a collection of books... and such books! A brilliant collection of poetry, narratives, parables, etc...

2. The Collected Works of William Shakespeare- The obvious choice, is it not? Limited to a few books I want those that give me the richest array of poetry, prose, narrative, etc... and none is richer than Shakespeare.

3. Dante- The Comedia- Perhaps the single most brilliant literary work ever... an over-arching poetic narrative that frames a collection of unforgettable tales.

4. Firdowsi- The Shahnameh- The Persian epic... merging elements suggestive of Dante, the Arabian Nights, Orlando Furioso, the Odyssey... and even the Bible... this is maybe the greatest book I have discovered in the last decade.

5. The Arabian Nights- Another brilliant collection of tales... magical and sensual... and surely seductive to one, like myself, fascinated with Persian/Middle-Eastern art and culture.

6. The Shanameh of Tabriz (The Houghton Shanameh- facsimile edition)- As a visual artist I would need some art books... and this would be one magical book... a facsimile of the most incredible illuminated versions of the Shanameh and one of the greatest illuminated books ever. Hundreds of paintings illustrating the fantastic narratives of the Shanameh (heroes, lovers, demons, kings, phantasmagorical creatures, etc...) all illustrated in the most brilliant array of colors and patterns... like Matisse, Bonnard, and Chagall... in miniature.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/41FDDgnXh1L_SL500__zpsac6a6637.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/41FDDgnXh1L_SL500__zpsac6a6637.jpg.html)

7. Masterpieces of Japanese Screen Painting- While I am greatly enamored of Persian/Arabic and Indian art, it is Japan that fascinates me the most among non-Western art and cultures. Jpanese screen paintings are simply phenomenal in their innovation and their brilliance of composition and design. This book presents a great array of screens in fold-out reproductions that span nearly 3 feet.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/41MZEbvqvWL__zpsc38d385c.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/41MZEbvqvWL__zpsc38d385c.jpg.html)

8. William Blake- The Collected Poetry and Prose of William Blake- Blake is perhaps the author (after Milton) who comes closest to realizing Dante's achievement of reinventing the cosmos.

9. Charles Baudelaire- Les Fleurs du Mal- French decadence... dark eroticism... sensuality and sinister beauty... and an exquisite horror

10. The Art of the Italian Renaissance- Back to the art books. This is one of those over-sized coffee table books... but one that is incredibly well-written and collects a vast number of the finest works of painting, sculpture, and architecture from the Italian Renaissance in beautiful reproductions. Here are many of my favorite artists: Michelangelo, Titian, Veronese, Raphael, Bellini, etc...

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/51Q9WR5Q0HL_SY300__zps833e7bad.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/51Q9WR5Q0HL_SY300__zps833e7bad.jpg.html)

11. Pierre Bonnard- Bonnard is my single favorite Modern artist... an exquisite sensualist and master of pattern and color.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/61rxobj9eL_SX260__zpsfd61d1dc.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/61rxobj9eL_SX260__zpsfd61d1dc.jpg.html)

12. 374 Paintings of Peter Paul Rubens- Coming to this last selection I found myself torn. Tristram Shandy? Don Quixote? Proust? Kafka? Calvino?... or my beloved Borges? Ultimately I could not live without Peter Paul Rubens... my single favorite painter of all. This Kindle edition collects nearly all of his known masterworks in marvelous reproductions.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/51O9b5xKhL_BO2204203200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-clickTopRight35-76_AA278_PIkin4BottomRight-5122_AA300_SH20_OU01__zpsb4e1e28d.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/51O9b5xKhL_BO2204203200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-clickTopRight35-76_AA278_PIkin4BottomRight-5122_AA300_SH20_OU01__zpsb4e1e28d.jpg.html)

As the others have done... I too will finish my selections (the films and the 3 luxury items) later over the next few days.

*****

Accck! I totally forgot Bob Dylan's Highway 61...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nAhI559WL._SY300_.jpg

I probably play this album as much as the Stones' Let it Bleed. But what disc will I get rid of... hmmm...?

Films:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/Films1_zpsd4c28746.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/Films1_zpsd4c28746.jpg.html)

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/Films2_zpsab919997.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/Films2_zpsab919997.jpg.html)

1. Fritz Lang- M.- I have been a long-time fan of German Expressionism... and this may be the best of the German films of the era that established much of the look of film noir

2. Billy Wilder- Speaking of "film noir". One of my favorite of the old Hollywood classics... although any other day I could easily trade it for Sunset Boulevard.

3. Alfred Hitchcock- Vertigo- My favorite (the "best"?) of Hitchcock's films. The tension builds so slowly... and Jimmy Stewart involved in what amounts to a reverse rape is simply disturbed and brilliant

4. Michael Curtiz- Casablanca- Virtually a flawless film that has everything: love, humor, Nazis, Ingrid Bergman, what more could you want?

5. Franco Zeffirelli- La Traviata- OK... this is a bit of a cheat. It gains me another work of music. Verdi's great opera to be specific. But then Zeffirelli's film and the sets and costumes are simply gorgeous, A young Placido Domingo and Theresa Stratas are magnificent. Besides... this is the film that first seduced me to the dark side... to opera.

6. David Lean- Lawrence of Arabia- Would anyone really need to ask why anyone would include this film? Surely one of the most spectacular... and gorgeous... epics ever filmed.

7. Orson Welles- I almost went with Touch of Evil... which may be more outlandishly fun... but surely nothing is more audacious than this film. I never fail to wonder at some new aspect of this film each time I watch it.

8. Ingmar Bergman- Something by Bergman is an absolute necessity. I was torn between this and Virgin Spring and Persona... but ultimately I love everything about this film

9. Francis Ford Coppola- The Godfather- An unrivaled American Epic.

10. Dr. Strangelove- Black comedy at its finest. Outrageous!

11. Frank Capra- It's a Wonderful Life- Pure sentimental drivel... and I love it!

12. Henry Selick- Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas- I initially thought of including The Wizard of Oz... but I have actually watched this film more. Burton brilliantly combined childhood memories of such stop-animation films as Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer with The Wizard of Oz, campy old monster and horror flicks, the Adams Family and the Munsters... and even such German Expressionist films as Nosferatu and the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Luxury Items:

1. A lifetime supply of Ayinger Celebrator...

http://www.kegworks.com/images/blogpost/ayinger-celebrator.jpg

Samuel Smith Imperial Stout...

http://www.brooklynmunch.com/uploads/1/0/7/6/10768505/1887666_orig.jpg?305

and a slew of Belgian ales:

http://www.chow.com/assets/2008/10/belgian_beer_header.jpg

2.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/Scarlett2_zps1b288ba1.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/Scarlett2_zps1b288ba1.jpg.html)

3.

http://www.juliettesinteriors.co.uk/images/detailed/22/_061.jpg

:biggrin5:

[Pierre Menard]

BOOKS:

1. Collected Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges
2. Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
3. Leaves of Grass - Whitman
4. Don Quixote - Cervantes
5. Collected plays of Shakespeare
6. The Complete Essays - Montaigne
7. Dubliners - James Joyce
8. Metamorphosis - Ovid
9. Pale Fire - Nabokov
10. Collected Plays - Samuel Beckett
11. The Anatomy of Melancholy - Robert Burton
12. The Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas

FILMS:

1. 12 Angry Men
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. Through a Glass Darkly
4. The Seventh Seal
5. Fargo
6. Manhattan
7. Double Indemnity
8. Duck Soup
9. Life of Brian
10. Paris, Texas
11. Assassination of Jesse James
12. Aguirre: The Wrath of God


I'll expand on the other topics and my already chosen choices at some later point.

[Desolation]

12 Books:
Ulysses by James Joyce
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Leaves of Grass ("Deathbed" Edition) by Walt Whitman
The Complete Works by Arthur Rimbaud
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, & The Unnameable by Samuel Beckett
In Search of Lost Time (or, alternatively, Swann's Way) by Marcel Proust
The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
The Divine Comedy by Dante
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
A Blank Notebook

Naturally, I mostly went with my absolute favorite books. Going beyond just "Favorites," I also picked the ones that I feel would benefit the most from repeated re-readings. The last few books, however, are books I've never read but am interested in - because, in this hypothetical desert island strand, I'm probably going to want books I've never read before. Naturally, I'll also probably want a notebook to write down whatever the hell thoughts I'd have sitting alone on an island.

12 Albums:
Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan
Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan
Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan
Songs of Love and Hate by Leonard Cohen
Marquee Moon by Television
Horses by Patti Smith
Exile on Main St by the Rolling Stones
London Calling by the Clash
Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie
Rain Dogs by Tom Waits
The Velvet Underground & Nico by the Velvet Underground
Raw Power by Iggy & the Stooges

Much as I'd like to have a one album per artist sort of thing - I think I'd go mad without those three Dylan albums. At least one Leonard Cohen album was needed - the one chosen is sort of arbitrary. For the rest, I know I'd want plenty of loud rock 'n roll, and punk.

12 Films
8 1/2
Taxi Driver
Synecdoche, New York
The Master
The Dark Knight Trilogy
A Clockwork Orange
Annie Hall
The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
I'm Not There
Casablanca
The Seventh Seal
No Country for Old Men

Not much to say about these except I like them. The Batman movies are kind of my go-to comfort films. I tried to go back to the one work per artist thing, with only one movie from each director. Choosing the individual PT Anderson and Stanley Kubrick (my two favorite directors) movies was the most difficult - touch call between The Master & There Will be Blood, and A Clockwork Orange & 2001: A Space Odyssey, respectively.

3 Luxury Items:
Cigarettes
Bourbon
Coffee

I enjoy my vices a great deal.

[Ecurb]

I'd like a selectin of these books:

A PRACTICAL COURSE IN WOODEN BOAT AND SHIP BUILDING
NAVAL ARCHITECT’S AND SHIPBUILDERS POCKET BOOK
SHIPBUILDING FROM ITS BEGINNINGS
WOODEN SHIPBUILDING
SMALL BOAT BUILDING

[Emil Miller]

I've been walking in the country all day but here's my belated music entry:

Brahms - Piano Concerto No.1

Brahms - Symphony No.1

Brahms - Symphony No.4

Beethoven - Triple Concerto

Sibelius - Symphony No.2

Elgar - Enigma Variations

Saint Saens - Organ Symphony

Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration

Richard Strauss - An Alpine Symphony

Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No.3

Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No.1

Ravel - Piano Concerto No.1

[mortalterror]

I'm going to assume that I can't just throw 200 mp3s onto a cd and burn it like I did in college, and I'm going to have to pick albums. Likewise, for the DVD's there's probably no TV seasons or boxed sets; so here I go.

Music:

1. I absolutely need Vivaldi's 4 Seasons whatever I do.
2 and 3. I'll take my Essential Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones 40 Licks.
4. The Beatles 1 Compilation Album released in 2000.
5. Led Zeppelin Early Days and Latter Days
6. Nirvana's 2002 compilation album Nirvana
7. Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix
8. Guns N Roses Greatest Hits
9. The Best of J.S. Bach
10. Pink Floyd Darkside of the Moon
11. Mozart: Soundtrack to Amadeus
12. Beethoven: Ninth Symphony

Movies:

1.Pulp Fiction
2.Goodfellas
3.The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
4.Gone With the Wind
5.Schindler's List
6.Full Metal Jacket
7.Casablanca
8.8 1/2
9.Seven Samurai
10.Dr. Zhivago
11.M
12.Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Luxury:

1.Whiskey
2.Coca-Cola
3.La-Z-Boy reclining and rocking chair

[Emil Miller]

OK here are the films and their directors:

Citizen Kane ............ Orson Welles

The Third Man............Carol Reed

Tokyo Story................Yasujiro Ozu

Ashes and Diamonds...Andrzej Wajda

La Strada...................Federico Fellini

Brief Encounter...........David Lean

Nights of Cabiria.........Federico Fellini

Alexander Nevsky........Sergei Eisenstein

Les Diaboliques...........Henri Clouzot

Triumph of the Will......Leni Riefenstahl

The Glass Menagerie....Irving Rapper

The Way to the Stars...Anthony Asquith

[Emil Miller]

I forgot to add the 3 'luxuries'.

1. A piano

2. Yuja Wang


http://imageshack.us/a/img268/1923/aze7.jpg
3. Sarah Chang

http://imageshack.us/a/img62/449/wglc.jpg

[stlukesguild]

Now Emil... a pair of women violinists? One Chinese and the other Korean. Surely you can imagine the potential problems there? Still... good thinking on your part. Why take 12 CDs when you can have the musicians? Personally, I probably have to go with Anna Netrebko and a good pianist/accompanist.

[Emil Miller]

Now Emil... a pair of women violinists? One Chinese and the other Korean. Surely you can imagine the potential problems there? Still... good thinking on your part. Why take 12 CDs when you can have the musicians? Personally, I probably have to go with Anna Netrebko and a good pianist/accompanist.

Yuja Wang is a famous concert pianist, hence the piano as luxury No1, whereas Ms Chang always takes her Guarneri del Gesù with her
wherever she goes.

http://youtu.be/7kmq1j5ufYY

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Here's what I pulled together, valid as of July 2nd at 7:40 pm CST:

12 Books

1. Hugo – Toilers of the Sea
2. Oliver Goldsmith – a collection of poetry and plays. Must include The Deserted Village, The Traveler, Vicar of Wakefield, She Stoops to Conquer
3. Walter Scott – a collection of poetry. Must include Lady of the Lake, Lay of the Last Minstrel,
4. Bible - let’s go with the Jerusalem Bible. Has the extra books
5. Chaucer – The Canterbury Tales
6. Norton Anthology of Poetry
7. Sir Bannister Fletcher’s- A History of Architecture
8. Dostoevsky – The Idiot
9. Letters of Saint Augustine
10. Homer – The Odyssey
11. A comprehensive illustrated book on Renaissance art & architecture. Whatever St. Lukes recommends, likely no. 10 from his list.
12. James Snyder – Medieval Art – Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, 4th-14th Century

12 Albums

1. The Who –Who’s next
2. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys – Anthology
3. Patsy Cline – Greatest hits
4. Cream –Disraeli Gears
5. Beatles – Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
6. Neil Young - Harvest
7. Antonín Dvořák – New World Symphony
8. The Who – Tommy
9. Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition
10. Burl Ives – a collection of his most popular. Must include Mama Don’t Like no Peas, No Rice, No Coconut Oil
11. Artie Shaw – Collection of his most popular. Must include Comes Love with Helen Forrest
12. Glen Miller – Collection of most popular.

12 Films

1. Cool Hand Luke – I can do a perfect impersonation of Strother Martin delivering the famous “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate…”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fuDDqU6n4o
2. The Best Years of Our Lives
3. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
4. Saving Private Ryan – I almost made it without shedding a tear until we started to walk out and I spotted an elderly man, likely a WW II veteran, sobbing as an elderly woman consoled him. I had to drop in the nearest seat blubbering.
5. Jason and the Argonauts – A Ray Harryhausen classic. The battle with Talos, fighting skeletons, fantastic.
6. The Wizard of Oz (B&W)
7. The Killer Shrews – trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhG8vLz9PUA Note Ken Curtiss (Festus) from Gunsmoke fame.
8. Young Frankenstein
9. Bad Day at Blackrock
10. Happy Gilmore
11. Charlie Brown Christmas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPG3zSgm_Qo
12. Can I count a box set of Star Trek original series episodes as one?

3 Luxury Items

1. Watercolor painting / sketching implements
2. Sophia Loren, let’s say circa 1960 - 1970 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfnWRMwKx1c
3. Desalinization system

[mortalterror]

Violinists Emil, why not flautists?

Also Stluke, I didn't think we could bring living beings like a girlfriend, best friend, or a favorite dog. You get a harem and now I'm stuck with a lousy armchair.

[stlukesguild]

:ladysman:


:smilielol5:

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

...Also Stluke, I didn't think we could bring living beings like a girlfriend, best friend, or a favorite dog. You get a harem and now I'm stuck with a lousy armchair.

What the...hold on there, I assumed we were talking about inflatables! right?
If it's any consolation Mortal, my circa '60-'70 Sophia was intended to be a blow up, plus she would come in handy as a floatation device.
I could give her the nickname; "Wilson"

Okay, that's it for tonight.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Good stuff on here. I'm wondering if I can go to Stluke's island and share some of those hot wenches and unlimited Belgian ales. Sounds like a party I actually would want to go to!

Books

I'm choosing books that I've still got plenty to milk out of and ones that would last.

Paradise Lost - Milton.

Love this. It followed me around the house for a year when I read it, but there's still a lot it can say, so it's something I will enjoy returning to, like an old friend who owes me a pint.

Shakespeare's works.

Of course, this is on everyone's list isn't it? There's much joy to be found here, even flicking at random to any page.

In Search of Lost Time - Proust.

Read the first one or two several years ago but time prevented me from going further. Well on an island with unlimited time, almost, that would not be a problem.

Kindle Complete Works of Wordsworth.

Not at all cheating. I always take delight laying in the grass listening to sheep and reading Wordsworth, they'll be plenty of time for that here.

My System - Aron Nimzowitsch

This is a classic chess manual that is not the easiest to read but contains a wealth of information. One of those books that 'every chess player needs to read' more than once. Very weird in places but to fully digest and apply will make you a good player.

Bible King James

Lots of stuff in here, some of it better than others, but plenty to get on with. I would take the Buddhist test Dhammapada but it is a bit thin on reading matter.

James Herriot Books

I'm classing all four as the same because it is basically one thing in four volumes. Totally delicious reading. Made my year.

Dante's Divine Comedy.

Plenty to go at with this book. Read it a few years ago but needs several readings and will keep me busy.

Chess Training Pocket Book, 300 Most Important Positions - Lev Albert

OK, it looks and sounds like a soft porn manual...:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chess-Training-Pocket-Book-Comprehensive/dp/1889323225/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372889606&sr=8-1&keywords=300+chess+positions

But some of the positions in this book are fantastic!!!:nod: I'm in the process of trying to memorise them all, would be very useful. Has a cult following.

Oscar Wilde Complete Works.

I couldn't go without at least one old friend.

I'm very much missing some French decadent poetry, may have to leave the Wilde behind for some Baudelaire, simply because Wilde has been read and read. (I will try sneaking Baudelaire down my trousers; I might get away with it...)


Luxuries

1 Fishing Equipment.

Good for finding food and relaxing.

2 My Yamaha SR 125.

Love riding this everyday, like an armchair for a king and an ambition to ride sorted. I would have to ride around the island in a circle but I don't mind that at all. There would be no bloody potholes to dodge like in Sheffield at least!

http://imageshack.us/a/img42/3184/dscf1342yb.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/42/dscf1342yb.jpg/)

3 Unlimited Supply of Ale.

I wanted a laptop and a chess set but I simply can't live without good quality ale - I totally refuse. I only want a vast array of quality ales from around the world, UK beers like Cumberland and Black Sheep and Belgian beers of course.

(Oh what about women, ha, ha? I put a laptop, chess set and beer before women/wenches, ha, ha.)

[LitNetIsGreat]

Double post. Bloody Adobe flash player nonsense crashing. Sorry, but not my fault.

[Ecurb]

I already picked my books. For my three luxuries:

1) A sea worthy yacht.
2) A pontoon airplane.
3) Fuel.

[The Comedian]

Books

1. Walden by H.D. Thoreau -- the perfect book filled with wisdom, beautiful prose, and (often under appreciated) humor.
2. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey -- for the same reasons as #1
3. Republic by Plato
4. Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. I love the epic story and the "boring" descriptions and history parts are my favorite.
5. Selected Poems of H.W. Longfellow. One of the most unappreciated poets, by my reckoning.
6. Selected Poems of Wordsworth. Some of the best words in the best order.
7. Complete Essays by Emerson -- solace and inspiration
8. Complete Essays by Montaigne -- ditto Emerson comments
9. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
10. Watership Down by Richard Adams -- compelling, epic story.
11. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry -- the best Western ever written.
12. Metamorphosis by Ovid -- so many beautiful stories, such beautiful words.

Albums (These other two areas are the ones where I'll struggle to come up with 12 -- music and film, for me are sorta. . . . meh)

1. Blind Melon -- title album
2. Blind Melon -- Soup -- my favorite albums by my favorite '90s band
3. Some album by Miles Davis
4. Willie Nelson -- greatest hits
5. Johnny Cash -- greatest hits
6. Allison Krauss -- any album would be fine -- need an angelic soundin' female voice
7. Bruce Springsteen -- Live '75-85
8. Fiddle music -- some compilation of hillbilly and Irish stuff.
9. R.E.M -- some greatest hits
. . . . Meh, I'd be cool with these -- no need to go to 12

Film

1. Star Wars
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Dumb and Dumber
4. Tommy Boy
5. Best in Show
6. Off the Map
7. Donnie Darko
8. The Outlaw Josey Wales
9. The Searchers
10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
11. The Life of Brian
12. The Hangover

(Overall theme -- serious, thoughtful books. . . .funny & silly movies)

Three Sundries

1. My fishin' gear
2. My canoe
3. 12 bottles of Jack Daniels

[Lykren]

I can see this thread sticking around for a while.

Books:

Ulysses: the immense stylistic richness of this novel alone could keep me busy for a lifetime.

The Tale of Genji, translated by Tyler: with its huge cast of psychologically realistic characters, I'd never feel lonely. Plus, beautiful poetry.

Pride and Prejudice: this book makes me feel happy. Overwhelmingly so. The narrator is like the best friend one could imagine.

Emma: a more detailed, perhaps even richer, assessment of the joys and journeys of love than P&P.

Macbeth: the only Shakespeare I'd really need. Has the greatest poetry, I believe.

Anna Karenina: the narration is so elegant! The characters so human!

Collected Poetry of Emily Dickinson: as someone who struggles to make poetry, I am always humbled by her flawless combination of imagery and wisdom.

Middlemarch: Its characters had an odd ambiguity about them I want to revisit.

The King James Bible: I haven't finished this, but can already see that its tales are capable of being endlessly recycled and interpreted.

In Search of Lost Time, Don Quixote, and The Dream of the Red Chamber: the three books on my to-read list I am most curious about.

Films:

Fanny and Alexander: the astounding warmth and grace of this, my favorite Bergman, could never fail to move me.

Wild Strawberries: again, a happier work by Bergman, which shows off his virtuosic dexterity in handling symbolism.

Stalker: a more difficult work by Tarkovsky, but one which has shaken me deeply in the past and could do so again.

Solaris: Mesmerizing. Peculiar. Frightening. Hypnotic. I don't know how to describe this, but it's amazing.

Andrei Rublev: yes, Tarkovsky is my favorite filmmaker. This is an epic worthy of Tolstoy.

Yojimbo: I debated taking Kagemusha, but the livelier characters of Yojimbo won out.

Yume: A lush and personal work by Kurosawa.

A Man Escaped: Bresson's spare, thrilling tale captivated me when I first saw it, and should be able to do so again.

Taxi Driver: startles me every time.

Vivre Sa Vie: Poignant? Yes. Sentimental? No. Perfect.

8 1/2: gosh, I could watch this forever and not figure it out!

Ran: again, an unseen work I am curious about to finish off the list.

Music:

Blood on the Tracks: "purple clover, Queen-Anne's-Lace, crimson hair across your face..." Beautiful.

Glenn Gould, Goldberg Variations (first recording): an experience of cosmic proportions.

Glenn Gould, Well-Tempered Clavier: deep and insightful. I need to hear this more often.

Loveless: If Rothko could have imitated Beethoven's ninth, aurally, this would be the result.

mbv: the exciting, dance-y sequel to Loveless.

OK Computer: a toweringly ambitious take on modern life.

In Rainbows: the unique sound of Radiohead gone calm.

Either/Or: the intense power of genuine emotion in a simple voice. Elliott always astounds.

London Calling: so I can have music to play when I get excited and reckless!

Johnny Cash: American IV, V, and VI: the gravitas of his voice is anything but simple, anything but normal. Postively superhuman in its evocation of eternal themes.

Luxuries:

1. A 20-year-old (my age) Penelope Cruz. Hopefully she's multitalented...

2. Um, infinite food and drink?

3. Infinite supply of writing utensils.

[SilvanDitties]

Books

1. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

2. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

3. Leaves of Grass - Walt Whitman

4. Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri

5. The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

6. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

7. The Human Comedy - Honore de Balzac (it's not one book, but I'm still including it.)

8. Moby-Dick - Herman Melville

9. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

10. Ulysses - James Joyce

11. Complete Works - William Shakespeare

12. Swann's Way - Marcel Proust


I didn't give much reason as to why I chose them, mostly because it would just consist of me saying this is good and I like it.


Movies:

1. Manhattan

2. Sling Blade

3. La vita è bella

4. Vertigo

5. Annie Hall

6. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

7. The Godfather

8. The Dark Knight

9. Star Wars

10. Forrest Gump

11. Rain Man

12. A Clockwork Orange


Albums:

1. The Legend - Johnny Cash

2. Emotionalism - The Avett Brothers

3. Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson

4. The Complete Hank Williams - Hank Williams

5. Complete Recordings - the Carter Family

6. The Good Life - Justin Townes Earle

7. Live at the Old Quarter - Townes Van Zandt

8. Sketches of Spain - Miles Davis

9. I've Got a Tiger By the Tail - Buck Owens

10. The Beatles - The Beatles

11. The Asch Recordings - Woody Guthrie

12. The Times They Are a-Changin' - Bob Dylan; if only for Boots of Spanish Leather. I just like Bob Dylan better as a folk singer anyway.


And for the last, I guess I'd take a guitar, banjo, and...a boat?

[LitNetIsGreat]

Oh I didn't read it properly, 12 not 10. I'll take Baudelaire from out of my trousers and put it on the list and perhaps throw in Cider with Rosie too (and stick The Sun Also Rises down my trousers.)

[Lykren]

Oops, I only listed eleven books. I think I'll throw Middlemarch in there as well then.

[Emil Miller]

Oh I didn't read it properly, 12 not 10. I'll take Baudelaire from out of my trousers and put it on the list and perhaps throw in Cider with Rosie too (and stick The Sun Also Rises down my trousers.)

I can imagine the scene: " I was proceeding along Picadilly your honour when I noticed the accused pulling what he described as his Baudelaire from his trousers. I gathered that he'd been drinking cider with Rosie and that when the sun rose he was going to stick it down his trousers. I concluded from his demeanour that he was drunk and his behaviour disorderly. When cautioned he replied: "I simply can't live without good quality ale - I totally refuse. I only want a vast array of quality ales from around the world, UK beers like Cumberland and Black Sheep and Belgian beers of course."


Anyhow, if you're going to change your original choice, I'll do the same by exchanging 'Blondes Don't Die Easy' for 'The Great Gatsby.'

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

....Anyhow, if you're going to change your original choice, I'll do the same by exchanging 'Blondes Don't Die Easy' for 'The Great Gatsby.'

I was recently reminded of a movie I absolutely adore, yet forgot when forming my list.
Happy Gilmore will be exchanged with the 1955 classic Faster Pussycat Kill Kill

[papayahed]

12 Albums
Boats, Beaches, Bars, and Ballads - Jimmy Buffett
Pulp Fiction Soundtrack
De Stilj - The White Stripes
The Road to Ensenada - Lyle Lovett
Flying High Again - Ozzy Osbourne
Achtung Baby - U2
Born to Quit - Smoking Popes
Greatest Hits - Bob Marley
Master of Puppets - Metallica
Greatest Hits - The Temptations
Highwayman - Highwaymen
Alive II - Kiss

erm.... these may change.

[Emil Miller]

12 Albums
Boats, Beaches, Bars, and Ballads - Jimmy Buffett
Pulp Fiction Soundtrack
De Stilj - The White Stripes
The Road to Ensenada - Lyle Lovett
Flying High Again - Ozzy Osbourne
Achtung Baby - U2
Born to Quit - Smoking Popes
Greatest Hits - Bob Marley
Master of Puppets - Metallica
Greatest Hits - The Temptations
Highwayman - Highwaymen
Alive II - Kiss

erm.... these may change.

It is devoutly to be wished.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I can imagine the scene: " I was proceeding along Picadilly your honour when I noticed the accused pulling what he described as his Baudelaire from his trousers. I gathered that he'd been drinking cider with Rosie and that when the sun rose he was going to stick it down his trousers. I concluded from his demeanour that he was drunk and his behaviour disorderly. When cautioned he replied: "I simply can't live without good quality ale - I totally refuse. I only want a vast array of quality ales from around the world, UK beers like Cumberland and Black Sheep and Belgian beers of course."


Anyhow, if you're going to change your original choice, I'll do the same by exchanging 'Blondes Don't Die Easy' for 'The Great Gatsby.'

Ha, ha, I like it, but in my defence Sir I was merely adding my two allocated choices to the list and not changing it - though I was thinking about dumping the bible for Jane Eyre!

Music and film will follow whenever I get a chance in this hectic summer. Don't worry your honour, they'll be some Woody in there for the lads.

[Lykren]

Argh! I forgot Fellini! I'll have to switch out Mirror for 8 1/2.

A question: why have I not seen Fellini on anyone else's list?

Edit: Oh. Because I am blind.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Speaking of films I've found Bergman on You Tube, though I'm not surprised a lot of stuff is now on it.

Watching Wild Strawberries here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9anlOTzIrkM

[Lykren]

Oh wow, it seems there's lots of Bergman up there. So cool!

[LitNetIsGreat]

I've been very busy of late and not been able to put up my 10/12 in music and film, but I have been thinking of it.

In terms of Bergman, I watched Wile Strawberries and quite enjoyed it, though I wouldn't put it right at the top of things. I also started watching Seventh Seal but didn't take to it that much at all.

I also forgot about Chekov in books - the plays. That's another one I'll have to ram down my trousers.

[Lykren]

I recall having a hard time with The Seventh Seal, but I'd be interested to see it again. How far into it did you get before stopping?

I just watched Wild Strawberries as well - the second time for me. I might want to switch it out with Cries and Whispers, but I don't know, that's such a painful movie.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I recall having a hard time with The Seventh Seal, but I'd be interested to see it again. How far into it did you get before stopping?

I just watched Wild Strawberries as well - the second time for me. I might want to switch it out with Cries and Whispers, but I don't know, that's such a painful movie.

Sorry, I've only just checked this thread again, I got about 45 minutes of the way in. I also tried Fellini's 8 1/2 though I only got about 10 minutes into that one, it was late when I put it on though, but even so it was hard work, give me some Woody! It felt a bit like being back at Uni studying theory.

------------

Ok, here are my music choices. I've only taken one per artist but my final 12 may look something like:



The Beatles – Hard Day’s Night (my favourite Beatles album by a long way)

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (one of the six classics, the first album, with quite a lot of bluesy scope)

The Rolling Stones – 40 Licks (lots of fun here)

Bach – (Glenn Gould) Piano Concerto no. 7. (sublime finger poetry)

Mozart – Piano Concerto no. 26. (quality, an old favourite)

Traditional - Danny Boy (my grandfather's song. I would never or very rarely play it)

Traditional – Some Irish music folk music, any, though including Whisky in the Jar (because I'm more than my 1/8 Irish at heart)

The Kinks – Greatest Hits (some good stuff going on here)

Gregorian Chant – Adorate Deum (for when I'm feeling 'Monkish')

Simon and Garfunkel – Greatest Hits (for Scarborough Fair, Mrs Robinson and The Sound of Silence - slightly haunting in some way)

Listz – Liebestraum no.3 (to hear the rain)

Vivaldi – Four Seasons (a classic classic that everyone enjoys, though I nearly took The Beach Boys instead!)



Something for all occasions I think.

[papayahed]

It is devoutly to be wished.

Yeah, but you've known me long enough to know that, while the choices may change, the taste level will not improve.