Loud music, Russian, Norse, British mythologies, make up fx, movies, writing fiction (screenplays, short stories and occasionally the novel), just getting lost in the worlds of film/comic books/novels. I love good characters and enjoy more than a few bad boys. So much more, but I can't remember.
Yeah, I'm stuck on big, bearded guys much to the worry of my family, although I won't kick a Tolkien dwarf out of my house ;)
First Lord of the Rings reading experience:
Picked up The Hobbit and LoTR while on vacation in California in 1980. Come back every so often, and can now say The Hobbit is in my top 3 novels of all time.
Favorite Tolkien character:
Thorin: his arrogance and vanity are tempered by wanting to do right by his people. He's not afraid to fail or accept those who prove themselves to him and his companions.
Runner up would be Beorn:
For all the gruff, bluff and distance, there's a good heart in this bear of a man. The concept of a berserker with a heart of gold is one I truly love and hope to recreate one day.