Main interests
 
Main interests : I started reading when I was 4, and books have been and remain my first passion. Starting with the classics, then fantasy/sci-fi and crime novels, nowadays non-fiction or specialist literature (see recommendations below).
 
After that comes music, something I didn't really discover for myself until I was about 8 or 9. Even though my parents listened to a lot of music, it was not my "cup of tea", with the possible exception of the Beatles.
The first records I owned were "Kimono my house" (the Sparks) and Bowie's "Diamond dogs", albums that were popular with the other kids at the time. Well- at the first opportunity, within a couple of weeks, I traded those at a used Lp-store for the coolest looking album they had - "Fireball (Deep Purple).
  
And believe you me, the sound of the fan or leslie or whatever, and the double bass drum pattern in the start of the first song (yes, double kick, Ian Paice rebuilt the kit on-stage when they performed that song), it shook my world- I played that album so much that one could see through the tracks if you held the LP to the light, and my dad had to buy a new stereo in order to get to listen to his music. That was it, bring on the hard rock.
 
Some of my favorite authors: Daniel C. Dennett (Consciousness explained, Darwins dangerous idea, Elbow room), Gene Wolfe (Anything!!!), R.D.Laing, Elmore Leonard, and many others.
 
Some of my favorite artists: Terence Trent D'Arby, Paul Rodgers, Ronnie James Dio, Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Scott Soto, Freddie Mercury, a lot of classical music-the list is long.
 
Notice that I apparently feel that there hasn't been too much happening lately!