Pop Culture: Desert Island Discs

Last night, Eyal and I were discussing pop culture (as you do) and the topic of the venerable Desert Island Discs came up. Naturally we started discussing what we would take with us.

So I put this to my readers, what would you take? For those unfamiliar, here are the rules:

You may take eight recordings. In addition, you are allowed one religious text, as appropriate (Christians the Bible, Jews the Tanakh, Muslims the Koran, etc - if you don't have a religion you can choose a philosophical book) and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. You're allowed one additional book, and a luxury item. It must be inanimate, and incapable of giving you communication with the outside world.

Eyal insisted that we add in one film and one television series. So! Here are mine.

Recordings

1. J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concertos, 1-6
2. W.A. Mozart, Piano Concertos 20-27
3. Beethoven, Complete Piano Trios, Barenboim-Zukerman-du Pre
4. Schumann, Dichterliebe, Op. 49
5. The Beatles, Abbey Road
6. Kate Bush, Hounds of Love
7. Paul Simon, Graceland
8. Gram Parsons, GP/Grievous Angel

Books

Tanakh
Complete Works of Shakespeare
The Koren-Sacks Siddur - my prayerbook

Film

Casablanca - for its sheer rewatchability factor and for introducing me to queer romance (the real love story is Rick Blaine and Louis Renault and I will die on that hill). Eyal suggested The Human Centipede 2, and in response I suggested divorce court. After that he switched his choice to Life of Brian, which he considers the funniest film ever made.

Television Series

Series 4 of the Doctor Who revival, because it got it so right. So many characters that deserved their own spin offs. Perfect chemistry between Doctor and companion. Eminently perfect television. The revival has been trying to match this season ever since, and while it's scraped great heights, it's never quite measured up.

Luxury Item

My bed, in all its California King, extra thick memory foam glory. After sleeping on horrific beds for years, then an adequate one when I moved in with Eyal, we both agreed to splurge on our current bed. It is just *chef's kiss*.

Please leave yours in the comments!