JIM GRIFFITH - MY RECOMMENDATIONS

I have my own interests, passions, and preferences, and many of them are mirrored on the following list of things which I highly recommend.

FOOD

• Dr. Pepper (tm) - yes, it is carbonated prune juice. It is also the finest carbonated soft drink on the market, with a fine balance between flavor and kick that the other soft drinks just don't have.
• La Costena - The finest burrito shop in Silicon Valley. Really good food, well-priced, and exactly what you want.
• The Jew and the Gentile - The finest deli in Silicon Valley. Their turkey sandwiches are made with turkey pulled off of the bird - none of that sliced compressed crap. You can even get cranberry sauce on it.
• Snapple Lemon Ice Tea - What can I say?

  MUSIC

  >li>Sarah McLachlan - I'm on a serious Sarah kick nowadays - I special-ordered Rarities, B-Sides & Other Stuff and her Live albums from Nettwerk Records in Canada. I saw her in concert at the Greek Theater in August, and it was the most amazing concert I've ever been to. She's one of those rare talents who sounds even more amazing without the usual post-production magic. I really enjoy Fumbling Towards Ecstacy, The Freedom Sessions, and Solace. My individual favorites are the accoustic (hidden) version of Possession, Vox, and the Freedom Sessions version of Hold on.
• Peter Gabriel - Most of the most powerful music I've ever heard has come from him. I highly recommend Shaking The Tree as a very good "best of" album. No particular album stands out as his best - I think they're all great. In fact, unlike any other performer I listen to regularly, I can't name a single album of his that I don't enjoy listening to (and I have them all). My personal favorites are "In Your Eyes" (So), "Solsbury Hill" (unnamed, 1977), "Come Talk To Me"(Us), "Red Rain" (So), "Secret World" (Us), and "Wallflower" (Security).
• Genesis - I grew up on "new" Genesis and gradually migrated to "old" Genesis. I'm a fan of both post- and pre-Gabriel Genesis, and my favorite albums are "Trick of the Tail", "Selling England By The Pound", and "We Can't Dance". Again, I have one of every album they've made. I'd single out "Domino" (Invisible Touch), "Fading Lights" (We Can't Dance), "Squonk" (Trick of the Tail), "Open Door" (The Vertigo Years), and "Mama" (unnamed 1983) as my favorites.
• Pink Floyd - I was late to get into Pink Floyd, but I made up for it in rapid fashion. My first PF album was Momentary Lapse of Reason, and I went back and discovered the more classical albums - The Wall, Wish You Were Here, and the rest. My favorites are "One Slip (Momentary Lapse of Reason), "Brain Damage/Eclipse" (Dark Side of the Moon), "Take It Back" (The Division Bell), and "Comfortably Numb" (The Wall ).
• Bruce Hornsby (and The Range) - again, I have them all. I have a lot of respect for Bruce Hornsby, because he has always struck me as a performer who holds true to the original bardic tradition more so than any other modern-day performers. Plus, his music kicks. His latest, Hot House is very good, and I really enjoy Scenes From the Southside and The Way It Is. My favorites are "Rainbow's Cadillac" (Harbor Lights), "Harbor Lights" (ditto), "Country Doctor" (Hot House), "The Road Not Taken" (Scenes From the Southside) and "Mandolin Rain" (The Way It Is).
• Individual Albums - I highly recommend the following album as ones that should not be missed: Roger Waters - Radio KAOS, Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily, and Tears for Fears - Elemental.
• Individual Songs - as far as I'm concerned, the following songs rank as some of the finest songs in music history: Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", Crosby, Stills, and Nash's "Delta", Billy Joel's "Lullabye", Tears for Fears "Break It Down Again", and James Taylor's "Fire and Rain".

  TELEVISION

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager - two of the most intelligent shows on television.
• Lois and Clark - I like the chemistry and the downplaying of the Superman aspect. The show isn't about Superman saving the world every week - it's about Clark Kent trying to live day-by-day.
• Murder One - I love this show. It's tense, it's dramatic, it's well-written, and the characters are strong.
• The John Larroquette Show - this show can be a lot of fun.
• News Radio - ditto
• Strange Luck - this show is simply cool. You know that there's going to be a weird plot twist. But you rarely see it coming.
• The usuals - ER, Friends, and Frasier

  AUTHORS AND BOOKS

• Tom Clancy - I've read them all and I love them all. It's probably the techie in me, since he writes to appeal to that kind of crowd. It's possibly because I just like the Jack Ryan character who is the focus of most of his books.
• Mike Resnick - one of my favorite sci-fi authors. Santiago was my first and favorite. I haven't read a single book of his which I didn't enjoy. I can highly recommend the Soothsayer trilogy and Second Contact.
• Peter David - I love his Star Trek novels (although, admittedly, I think his best work is with the ST:TNG novels - his ST:TOS novels just seem... weaker than the rest). He has a great sense of humor, and he can also write the dramatic moments well.
• Diane Duane - her Star Trek novels can stand up against the finest that science fiction has to offer. I highly recommend My Enemy, My Ally as the finest overall Star Trek novel ever written. I also highly recommend The Wounded Sky as a strong Star Trek and even stronger science fiction novel.

  USENET NEWSGROUPS

• rec.humor.funny - tell me that you didn't see this one coming... The Internet's premiere humor publication.
• rec.arts.startrek.info - I'm two for two now. The best source of information on upcoming episodes and movies.
• comp.risks - "risks of living in a modern society", it talks about interesting technical catch-22's and interesting ways in which modern technology is being (ab)used.
• alt.humor.best-of-usenet - some of the funnier or more interesting USENET articles from any newsgroup.