George French

Not sure where to start with this guy, but what a guy he is. For those who don't know him, I apologize. I met George at the beginning of this past summer as the new guy on the softball team (him, not me). And even though his summer stats show him logging 17 errors (slightly more than twice anyone on the team) it would be unimaginable to play on this team without him. Especially because he is the guy you can always talk into staying for one more beer at our weekly post-softball-game gatherings at Swallow at the Hollow. He later joined the famed Egg Babies Orchestra (the second of two unadvisable things for him to do) which turned out to be a great time as well. We'll just consider him my sangria partner before EBO sets from now on. Anyway, this list he came up with is good. Real good. Chris Myers might say that he is lobbing softballs all over the place at me, but the truth is that it's just packed with real good stuff. Enjoy:

Movies:

The Big Lebowski
The Shawshank Redemption
Good Will Hunting
Boogie Nights
Better Off Dead
Animal House

Music:

Tom Waits
The Dismemberment Plan (esp. Emergency & I)
Animal Collective (esp Merriweather Post Pavilion)
The Silver Jews
Loretta Lynn
The Velvet Underground

Books:

Kurt Vonnegut: Timequake, Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night
Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged (it was a phase but I did genuinely enjoy the book)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Notes from Underground
Jim Bouton - Ball Four
George Orwell - 1984
Joseph Heller - Catch 22

TV:

The Wire
Anything on the History Channel
The Simpsons
Three Sheets
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (the movie kicks ass too)
You Can't Do that on Television

Since I'm generally illiterate when it comes to visual art, I will make my recommendations in the only medium I am familiar with.

Comics:

Calvin and Hobbes 10th anniversary book
The Prehistory of the Far Side