I like to talk and hang out with locals because it's the best way to know new places.

Movies: Coen brothers, Allen, Kubrick. Music: classic (esp. Bach, Ravel, russian composers), jazz (original, be-bop, hard bop, modal, cool, avant-garde, free), rock, blues, rhythmic american poetry, a capella. http://www.lastfm.ru/user/fmaryin Books: russian literature, 20th century (Faulkner, Steinbeck, Kerouac), etc.