I have the best friends in the world. Here are some of them:

Some bands I really dig right now:

Over the Rhine: Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler (along with some sidemen who change with time) write stunningly beautiful songs.

Marillion: Fourteen albums and still going strong.

The Pogues: yes, yes, I know...and I don't care. F-ing brilliant. That's all there is to it.

British Sea Power: BSP sort of synergize the current moody alt-rock sound with influences from New Wave heroes like Echo and the Bunnymen. Plus, like the band just above them in this list, they're unapologetic about a nascent intellectualism in their lyrics and image that sets them apart from the "Baby, baby, repeat ad nauseum" songs so prevalent on the air these days.

Kate Bush: After cranking out one incredibly influential art rock record after another from 1978 to 1993, deeply influencing scads of writers and performers (most famously Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan) Kate Bush disappeared for a dozen years to live a quiet family life. In 2005, pretty much out of the blue, she returned from retirement with what a lot of people are calling a career-defining album. Whoa.

Bad Haggis: Bagpipes in a rock band is (are?) a good thing. I repeat, bagpipes in a rock band is (are?) a good thing. Always has been true.

Instrument and software links:

Unicornation: AFAIK, this is the best online users' group for Mark of the Unicorn Digital Performer (aka DP). it's also the least rancorous online music bulletin board I've visited.

Webber, Seagull, and Tokai guitars: for some reason, I always love the small(ish) brands.

Roland: Except when it comes to synths. Then give me the megacorp. Ha.

Other stuff:

RileyCon: a sort-of annual gaming event, hosted by yours truly and Smilin' Jack, author of such cult classic tunes as Armored Poodles Dancing on the Floodlights and Rubber Chicken Band.

A Naturalist's Voyage: Let me repeat this in small words (I live in Tennessee, home of the Scopes monkey trial, after all): Darwin. Is. Important. So stop hitting slashdot every five minutes, y'all, and check out something worth reading.

Bernard Cornwell: The Richard Sharpe books are masterpieces of historical fiction, and they're only a part of Cornwell's catalog.